Deus Ex Machina
by athenanoctea
Summary: He remembered her the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Deus Ex Machina

**Author: **carpenyx

**Rating: **NC-17

**Warnings: **Sexual Content, Character Death

**Characters: **Ronon Dex centric w/the rest of the SGA main characters

**Spoilers: **Up through "Sateda" and "Progeny", alternate universe – set later in the third season.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own. Just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy. No copyright infringement intended.

**Summary: **He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 1**

**Atlantis – Pegasus Galaxy**

**Present Day**

The northern winds were gathering force in the distance, with the threat of storms approaching the city of _Atlantis_. Ronon leaned forward against the railing of the balcony, his hands folded as he gazed out over the city. The sky was darkening, the sun was setting in the West, giving off a faint taint of red against the blackened skyline. _I miss you._

Ronon closed his eyes, envisioning the woman he had loved so long ago, the only woman he had ever truly loved. A rare smile attempted to surface and break through the rough exterior of the warrior. He fought it, allowing his mind to win over his heart. He could not allow such memories to disable him. In spite of this, it seemed near impossible not to succumb to the visions of her beauty.

A troubled sigh escaped him and he lowered his head solemnly. It was on nights not unlike tonight that he remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

_He turned the corner hurriedly, only to collide with another. In one swift motion, he reached out his arm, twisting his hand and taking hold of the woman's upper arm to prevent her from crashing to the ground from the impact. As he spun her around, his arms caught her in an embrace within seconds of the initial collision. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, looking down at the young woman._

_She laughed, her cheeks turning a bright red as she looked up at the man who had saved her from an even more embarrassing moment. Her hands were up against his chest; she could not help but be in awe at the hardness of his body. He was quite intimidating in stature and beauty. She gathered he could have been one of the Satedan military soldiers or a soldier-in-training. _

_The woman smiled warmly, "Yes, yes. I am so sorry. I…" She shook her head and laughed again. "I can be such a klutz. I didn't mean-"_

"_It's okay," Ronon reassured her as he released her from the embrace that had lasted a little longer than what was appropriate. He touched her arm lightly before bending over and picking up the books she had dropped when they had bumped into each other. He inclined his head slightly, glancing over the books before offering them to her. "Studying medicine?" he commented as she took the books from him._

"_Yes! It's my first quarter at the Academy," she expressed excitedly. "I hope to get a training position at the local hospital by the end of the year." She shook her head, blushing again. "I'm giving away too much information, aren't I?" She laughed softly._

_Her laugh was mesmerizing; Ronon could not remove his eyes from the vision of beauty as he offered a small smile, listening to her ramble. _

"_I'm Melena," she said as she tucked her textbooks under her arm and reached her free hand out to him._

"_Melena," he repeated softly, taking her hand gently. "Ronon."_

_---_

"_Ronon!" Melena yelled as she knocked furiously on the door. "Ronon!"_

_Ronon opened the door, looking at Melena with a raised brow. "What's wrong?"_

"_I got it!" she told him excitedly, a bright smile on her face. She threw her arms around him. "I can't believe I got!" she repeated, looking up at him. She raised herself onto her tiptoes, placing a soft kiss on his cheek._

_Ronon laughed, slipping one arm over her shoulders. "Back up for just a second, Melena, what is it you got?" he questioned as he led her into the living area._

_Melena jumped up and down enthusiastically. "I got one of the training positions at the hospital! There are only a limited number of slots and I got picked to fill one of them. I start next week, isn't that wonderful?"_

_Ronon shook his head. "Did you take your anti-crazy pills today, Mel?"_

_Melena rolled her eyes, balling her fist up and delivering a quick, steady punch to his arm. She was rather tough - possessed an incredible amount of strength for a woman of her size - but it did not measure up against his. As for the punch, it was seemingly nothing more than a light tap. "Stop joking around, Ronon," she giggled._

_Ronon grinned. He was extremely happy for her. He wanted nothing more than for her to be happy; seeing her happy made him realize just how much he had fallen in love with her._

_---_

"_Melena?" Ronon whispered into her ear, pulling her in closer. He buried his face into her honey-scented hair, inhaling the sweet aroma deeply. He sighed contentedly, his fingers very teasingly tracing along her arm._

"_Yes?" she said breathlessly, her arm draped across his bare chest and her breasts pressed against his naked form. Both their bodies were layered with sweat, heat radiating between them. They were both spent from a night of divine bliss._

_Ronon closed his eyes, resting his head in against hers. "I love you," he murmured delicately._

_She smiled warmly, lightly moving her fingers over his chest. "Always."_

"_You mean that?" Ronon asked her quietly as he shifted, sitting up and pulling her up into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, gazing into her dark brown eyes. He always got completely lost in her eyes. They revealed so much, her intelligence, her strength, and her love, not only for him but also for others. He fell in love with her all over again every time he looked into those brown eyes._

_Melena giggled softly "Of course I do," she said as she snuggled up to him. "Do you doubt how I feel about you?"_

_Ronon shook his head. "No…"_

"_Then why ask the question?" she inquired, searching his face. _

"_I…" Ronon paused, "Melena…" He looked into her eyes, his hands cupping the side of her soft, delicate face and pulled her closer, kissing her lovingly for a moment before breaking away. "Will you… marry me, Melena?"_

"Hello?" Rodney spoke up as he stepped out onto the balcony. He looked over at Ronon, then over the city. He rolled his eyes. _Why do I always have to be the one who goes and pokes the really big and scary guys?_

Rodney inclined his head, looking at Ronon. "Ronon?"

Very warily, McKay walked over to stand next to Ronon.

Ronon looked down at McKay, indifferently. "What?"

McKay flinched; a natural response to _that_ look Ronon seems to give him on most occasions. "Uhm, Sheppard wanted me to inform you that we will be leaving shortly." he explained, shrugging his shoulders.

Ronon stared at McKay.

McKay looked back at Ronon, lifting his brow. "You are coming, aren't you?"

Ronon nodded, "Yes."

"So, we'll meet you in the gate room?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes," Ronon affirmed, returning his attention to the horizon in the distance.

He nodded as he turned and headed back inside.

_Ronon scooped Melena up into his arms in one fluid motion, kissing the top of her head gently. "Welcome home, Melena Sadira Dex," he said, a big grin on his face as he pushed the door open with his foot. He carried her across the threshold, carefully putting her down._

_Melena laughed softly, looking up at Ronon. "I can't believe we did it," she said as she embraced him._

_Ronon cupped her face in his hands, pulling her into an urgent and passionate kiss. His tongue eased in between her full lips, soon deepening the kiss, their tongues entwining fully. His hands slid down to her shoulders, then to her arms before finally coming to rest against the back of her thighs. He lifted her off her feet with ease, and she wrapped her legs around his mid-section as he carried her towards the bedroom._

_Melena suckled softly on his lower lip before breaking the kiss. She looked deep into his dark mysterious eyes. "I love you," she murmured, not believing that this day had finally arrived. She had to be the luckiest Satedan on the planet. _

_Ronon smiled affectionately and carried her over to their bed. He lowered her down and in one swift movement maneuvered himself on top of her delicately. His hand grabbed onto her thigh as he pressed against her, kissing her furiously. _

_The heat between them became immense, she tasted like honey suckles, and her scent filled his nostrils. Hands explored - remembering every curve of her naked body - his tongue ventured to her depths, and he found heaven when they joined as one – it lasted the whole night, entwined in each other's love and embraced by the warmth of their bodies._

_---_

_Ronon walked into his house, looking around. "Melena?" he called out anxiously._

_Melena stared at the empty suitcase sitting open on the bed. She sighed softly. _

"_What are you doing?" Ronon asked as he walked into their bedroom. He looked at her, then to the empty luggage._

"_I'm listening to the chieftain's speech," she answered._

"_Why aren't you packing?" He looked at her, pointing to the empty suitcase on the bed. "I traded every last thing we had to get you on Kell's personal staff!" he told her, getting frustrated as he gathered up clothing and some personal belongings from the drawers of the dresser, tossing them into the suitcase._

"_He's a criminal. He's using people's fears for his own gain!" she argued, moving over to Ronon and grabbing onto his arm. She looked up at him, her eyes welling up with tears._

"_He's a commander and his staff gets to go through the Ring!" Ronon growled as he looked down at her._

"_The hospital needs me, Ronon," she reasoned. _

_Ronon hissed, releasing himself from Melena's hold. He kicked the dresser angrily, "There's not gonna be any need for hospitals, Melena!" he spat out, looking over at her. "That's just a bunch of words meant to make the people who don't get to leave think there's hope. We shot down two ships that came through the Ring, two small ships. Do you really think that's all they're going to send?"_

"_Of course not," she injected quietly. _

"_Ships as big as our city have attacked other planets, anyone that stays will not survive, Melena."_

_Melena moved over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she started crying, tears rolling down her pale rosy cheeks. "Then why are you staying behind?"_

"_I have no choice." _

_---_

"_Ronon, wait! What about all these people?" she asked as the chaos erupted around them. She looked around the hospital bay, shaking her head, unable to believe that this was all going to end… like this… here._

"_They're all dead," Ronon said grimly as he looked at her. It broke his heart; the happiness and love in her eyes was replaced with pain and fear. He could not do this without her, but she was torn, he knew. He could not leave her behind; "We have to go, Melena, now!"_

_Melena sobbed as she shook her head gravely. "I can't." She looked over at Ronon and regret filled her eyes. "I can't… Ronon, I can't go."_

_The high-pitched hissing sounds of the Wraith darts could be heard in the distance, closing in over the city._

_Ronon's eyes were frozen on Melena when the explosion erupted throughout the city and outside the hospital. Seconds, one second to be precise, passed before the large bay window blew out. Ronon's eyes widened with anguish at the horror he witnessed. "Melena!" he cried out, but it was too late. The flames had engulfed her and he fell to his knees, the young child still cradled in his arms. "Melena!" he cried out again, incapacitated._

_She was gone._

"Hey," Sheppard said as he walked outside and over to Ronon, standing beside him. "Looks like rain," he commented, leaning on the railing.

Ronon nodded, looking at John.

"We're about to head out on that recon mission," John informed him, even though Ronon was already aware of the plans. He had taken notice of Ronon's disconnected manner all day.

Ronon nodded slowly.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Ronon said impassively.

"Are you sure?" John asked, concerned.

"Sure."

"How sure we talkin' here? Pretty sure, not-so sure…" John joked with a smirk.

"Pretty sure," Ronon confirmed.

Sheppard nodded, patting Ronon on the back. "Alright. Let's head out."

**Bethdsha – Pegasus Galaxy – Wraith Feeding Grounds**

**Present Day**

The bone-chilling sounds of the Wraith darts were closing in on her position. She had to act quickly. There was no time to waste. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, pushing them beyond their natural limits. She was tired and weak, covered in dried layers of mud and blood, only to have fresh layers on top of those ones. _Not going to make it, can't run anymore._

She was running out of time.

The woman looked over her shoulder, a grave mistake as she lost her footing, her knees buckling underneath her and she fell to the ground. She struggled to push herself back up; she failed on her first attempt.

Breathless, she tried again, straining against gravity. With much effort, she was able to push herself up and sustain her strength enough to rise to her feet again.

The muscles in her legs were burning, pulling, and they felt like they were ripping into shreds when she started running again.

Relief was not far away, as the Ring came into view. It was enough motivation to enable her to push herself even harder.

She reached the dialing device, pushing in random symbols. Nothing happened.

She cursed, looking back over her shoulder. They were close, and she had to try another combination, and fast.

One of the Wraith darts was dangerously closing on her location. It powered up its two firing weapons and fired upon the runner.

It had missed its target, but only by a few feet. The dart zipped past her vengefully, getting ready to maneuver back around for another shot.

Melena had only a couple of seconds to spare; she punched in another combination of symbols. The Ring powered up, locking into place, and the mystical pool sprung forth.

She made a run for the gate, the Wraith dart right on her heels.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Deus Ex Machina

**Date: **08/31/2006

**Author: **carpenyx

**Rating: **NC-17

**Warnings: **Sexual Content, Character Death

**Characters: **Ronon Dex centric w/the rest of the SGA main characters

**Spoilers: **Up through "Sateda" and "Progeny", alternate universe – set later in the third season.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own. Just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy. No copyright infringement intended.

**Summary: **He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 2**

**Command Center – Atlantis**

**Evening**

It had been a quiet day on Atlantis with the exception of the weather conditions. Most of the off world teams had returned earlier in the evening. Sheppard's team however, was still on a reconnaissance mission according to the reports Elizabeth Weir was reviewing. She sighed tiredly, leaning back in her chair. She went over the conversation she had had earlier with John, regarding her concerns about Ronon's behavior.

She had expressed her reservations about allowing Ronon to join them on this mission, explaining that he seemed depressed and disconnected. John assured her that it was a simple get-in-get-out type of mission. He saw no reason for Ronon to sit it out.

She straightened the pile of papers and folders that were scattered on her desk before pushing her chair backward and standing. Elizabeth rubbed the bridge of her nose, fearing an impending headache. Regardless of the relaxed feeling of the day, there was still tension and stress among the crew and herself. The war with the Wraith and the new developments with the Replicators were tiring to say the least.

"Incoming wormhole," the on-duty technician announced over the radio.

Elizabeth raised her brow curiously; _Sheppard isn't due back for another couple of hours_. She walked out of her office and across the control room, looking at the technician inquiringly.

"No IDC confirmation, ma'am," he stated, looking over at her. "But there is an incoming transmission - audio only."

"Put it through," Elizabeth ordered.

"Go ahead, Dr. Weir," the technician advised.

"This is Dr. Elizabeth Weir-"

"Pl… help… me… close…" came a voice over the speakers. The static over the system was heavy and the voice repeated itself.

Elizabeth looked at the technician. "Can we clear up the transmission?"

"Please… I… after me… not… time… help…" The voice was broken up with all of the static interference.

"I might regret this," she muttered to herself, having to make a split second decision before the individual decided to go ahead through the gate. "Lower the shield."

"Lowering the shield," the technician stated.

Elizabeth's stomach clenched tightly as she walked out onto the overhang of the gate room; the marines were surrounding the gate, their weapons trained on it. Her eyes focused cautiously on the event-horizon, hoping that her decision was not the wrong one.

A woman stumbled through the gate, collapsing onto the floor only a couple of feet from the event horizon. Just as she had stepped through, an energy blast had followed close behind, exploding into the giant staircase that led to the control center.

"Close the shield!" Elizabeth barked as she headed for the stairs. The blast had not done any real damage to the stairs, leaving only a large blackened spot, but the security team was quickly moving in to take care of the problem.

Elizabeth moved slowly towards the woman. "Get a medical team down to the gate room immediately!" she ordered. She knelt down cautiously looking at the other woman. Weir shook her head as she noticed the damage; it ranged from bruising to swelling, and mud to blood covering the girl's body. Elizabeth cringed at the sight and cursed under her breath. The clothes on the woman were shredded, her hair was matted, and her breathing was extremely labored. Elizabeth reached out warily, gently touching the woman's shoulder.

Melena coughed, blood spattering onto the floor. She tried desperately to move, but it was no use. She had no more strength, no more will in her to make the effort. She was drained.

Elizabeth tilted her head as she looked down at the injured woman. She pulled off her jacket and slipped it over the girl carefully.

Melena moved her head to the side, just enough to be able to look up at the other woman. "Where…" she managed to get out breathlessly before choking on more blood that fell to the floor, gathering into a distinct puddle.

"Shh," Elizabeth said softly, stroking the young woman's tangled hair in a comforting manner. "We're getting you help."

Melena did not respond as her eyes began to droop, her body aching to shut down.

"Where's Beckett?" Elizabeth shouted, looking up at the control room.

"ETA two minutes, Dr. Weir," the technician informed her.

Melena struggled, trying desperately to move again. "Ro…" She choked again, coughing harder than before. She could feel the muscles in her abdomen tightening and cramping up with each round of coughing. Her body was screaming from the pain. Melena's eyes started to well up with tears, threatening to overwhelm her. She had no idea where she was, whether or not she was safe, and whether or not today would be the day she died.

There was not much for Elizabeth to do in this situation but remain by the other woman's side until help arrived. Of course, she was concerned with the stranger, but there was something about the woman that made Elizabeth feel as if they were in no danger by having her there. Elizabeth was typically very guarded about uninvited guests, so she found her feelings regarding the situation strange to say the least.

"Ronon…" she spat out with another cough as she mustered enough strength to grab onto Weir's hand.

The marines advanced a couple of feet, weapons aimed at the intruder.

Elizabeth was startled by the other woman's sudden movement. Her eyes shifted to the marine personnel. "Stand down," she instructed before resting her hand over Melena's softly. "You know Ronon?"

"Ronon…" she managed to murmur again before her body relaxed, her hand slipping from under Elizabeth's to the floor. Her body was giving into the pain; she could feel the numbness and coldness creeping throughout her body: relief, as brief as it may be. She closed her eyes, her cheeks damp with tears. She did not believe Ronon to be alive; she was on the brink of death and she was crying out for the one she loved, like every other.

Melena's breath was weakening; her body was giving in more and more with each second that passed. She shuddered, clawing at the ground beneath her weakly; trying to hold on, but she could not…. She was slipping further into unconsciousness.

**Infirmary – Atlantis**

**Forty-Three Minutes Later**

"Doctor Beckett? What can you tell me about our visitor?" Elizabeth asked as she walked into the infirmary. She moved over to the side of bed, looking down at the woman.

"She has extensive bruising, swelling and other various injuries. According to the initial scans she has multiple fractures, but they aren't new, not by any means. It appears that she was exposed to repeated abuse," Beckett explained as he observed the woman's vitals on the heart monitor. "If you look at her wrists, there is evidence of some kind of previous bindings, as well as around her neck. Also, we found something else during our initial evaluation."

"Oh?" Elizabeth questioned.

"There appears to be scarring on her back, along her spinal column over the second thoracic vertebrae. This is the exact spot that I removed the Wraith tracking device from Ronon. It seems that our patient here was a runner but from the age of the scars, the device was removed a couple of years ago."

"She had a tracking device like Ronon?"

"Aye."

Elizabeth sighed with relief; her doubts subsided. "Has she woken up yet?"

"Aye, but only momentarily."

"Did she say anything? Her name? Where she came from? What happened?"

"No, she was only awake for a few minutes and she was very disoriented." Carson walked across the room, bringing up some files onto the computer screen. "I haven't completed all the tests yet. I was hoping that she would've responded to the fluid injections by now. Of course, it's still too early to be sure. I was able to screen her for any known illnesses: viral, bacterial, and parasitic. All of the tests were negative. "

"That's good," Elizabeth said, sounding relieved as she took the woman's hand delicately.

Carson glanced over at Elizabeth. "You seem to have taken a liking to her, Dr. Weir."

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "Call it a woman's intuition."

"Aye." Beckett walked over to the intravenous drip, adjusting the fluid levels. "One of the nurses will be cleaning her up and attending to her wounds shortly. I fear there isn't much else I can do until she regains consciousness. I'll continue to run what tests I can, but it could be a couple of hours before I get any solid results."

"I am sure you'll do your best."

"Thank you."

"Keep me informed, and let me know when she wakes up," she said quietly as she lightly squeezed the woman's hand before stepping back and heading for the door.

"Of course, Dr. Weir."

**Command Center – Atlantis**

Elizabeth walked up the steps to the control room. "Any word from Sheppard's team yet?"

The technician shook his head. "Not yet, Dr. Weir."

Elizabeth nodded as she headed for her office.

"Incoming wormhole," the technician announced.

_Perfect timing_. Elizabeth turned, not having made it to her office yet, and walked back over to the control panels.

"Colonel Sheppard's IDC."

"It's about time," she said as she headed for the staircase.

"I tell you!" Sheppard exclaimed in an annoyed voice, addressing no one in particular as he shook his head and walked to the middle of the gate room. He looked up at Elizabeth who was making her way down the stairs to join them.

Elizabeth grinned wryly. "Things went well?"

"The natives were quite-"

"Hardly!" McKay scoffed as he moved in next to Sheppard, looking at Elizabeth. "Can you believe they tried to feed me frogs? Covered with lemons!"

"They were not frogs, Doctor McKay," Teyla said gently.

"Whatever! But… LEMONS!"

Elizabeth shook her head as she glanced over to Ronon briefly before returning her attention back to John. "You can tell me all about it, but first-"

"Does anyone care that I was almost killed?" McKay questioned, his hands placed on his hips.

"Of course we care, Rodney," Teyla reassured him with a pat on the back.

"Ronon, I need to speak with you for a moment," Elizabeth said.

Ronon nodded.

"John, why don't you join us also?"

"Sure thing."

"What about us?" McKay asked, looking over at Elizabeth.

"It doesn't concern you right now, Rodney."

Teyla smiled softly as she rested her hand on Rodney's shoulder. "Come, I think some Atlantian food will ease your troubles with lemons, yes?"

McKay stared at Elizabeth before huffing, "Yeah, yeah."

**Conference Room – Atlantis**

"I want to address something before we move on," Elizabeth stated as she looked over at Ronon who was sitting on the other side of the room. "It has been brought to my attention that something has been troubling you, Ronon."

Ronon rolled his eyes, glaring in John's direction.

Sheppard shrugged, sinking down into the chair a little.

"It isn't my business-"

"It's not," Ronon interrupted, looking over at her, displeased.

"However," she continued. "When it starts to affect the performance of you and your team, it becomes my business."

"I'm fine."

"Are you?" she questioned.

"He's fine," John affirmed, looking at Elizabeth. "You see, we had guy talk thing, very fascinating stuff."

"Care to inform me of what's going on?"

"Not really," Ronon told her.

"It's a guy thing, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth eyed John, annoyed. "Very well," she said through clenched teeth angrily, both were on the verge of disrespecting her authority. _Let it slide, Elizabeth… for now_.

She looked over to Ronon. "There is also something that both of you need to see." She rose to her feet. "It especially involves you, Ronon."

Ronon nodded as he pushed himself up from his seat and walked out of the conference room. He paused outside of the doorway, waiting for both John and Elizabeth.

Sheppard rolled his chair back, standing up before walking over to Elizabeth who was looking rather discouraged. "Don't take it personal, Elizabeth. It's about his wife…" John nodded, seeing the look of confusion on her face. "She died over seven years ago and today…" He sighed. "Today was supposed to be their tenth anniversary."

_While Rodney and Teyla were wandering the town square of the village, both John and Ronon opted to skip the shopping spree before their dinner with the townspeople. John shifted on the rock that he was sitting on, gun cradled in his arms. He looked over at Ronon, deciding this would as good a time as any to see what has been troubling him. "So, who died?" he questioned jokingly. _

_Ronon, who was leaning against the wooden post, stared at John with a look that could kill. "My wife."_

"_Since when did you have a wife?" he asked, scrunching up his face in confusion, trying to get past the shock of what he had just heard. _

"_Until seven years ago."_

_John nodded slowly, tapping his finger against his P-90. "If you want to-"_

"_Talk about it?" Ronon questioned._

"_Yeah."_

"_I don't," Ronon told him._

"_How long were you married?" he asked, decided to push just a little._

_Ronon hesitated, "Ten years, today."_

_It was only a matter of asking the right question, at the right moment. John understood now why Ronon had been disconnected today. He nodded, deciding to respect the other man's wishes and not talk about it anymore. "We should go see what those two are up to before they burn a hole in my pocket," John said with a sly smirk._

"I didn't…" Elizabeth murmured as she looked at John.

"I know," he said quietly.

**Infirmary - Atlantis **

"We don't know who she is or where she came from," Elizabeth explained to Ronon and John as they came to the infirmary. Once she entered, she moved to the side.

Ronon stepped inside behind Elizabeth, wondering why this would be important to him. As the woman in the infirmary bed came into view, Ronon could not believe his eyes. His heart started pounding against his ribcage, seemingly fighting to escape. He stood there, paralyzed by the sight of … "Melena."


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Deus Ex Machina

**Date: **09/09/2006

**Author: **carpenyx

**Rating: **NC-17

**Warnings: **Sexual Content, Character Death

**Characters: **Ronon Dex centric w/the rest of the SGA main characters

**Spoilers: **Up through "Sateda" and "Progeny", alternate universe – set later in the third season.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own. Just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy. No copyright infringement intended.

**Summary: **He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 3**

**Dr. Weir's Office – Atlantis**

**Late Evening**

"Talk about one hell of an anniversary gift," John commented. He leaned against the entryway with his arms crossed, looking at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth nodded. "I can't even begin to imagine what this is doing to him," she said thoughtfully as she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. The shock on Ronon's face had been unforgettable.

"Fucking with his mind?" John suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. "More or less. Why hasn't he mentioned her before?" she asked, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her desk, folding her hands.

"If you haven't noticed, he's not exactly the open-book-tell-all kind of guy."

Elizabeth nodded.

"He didn't really say much when we talked earlier, but what he did say makes sense. If she died seven years ago, that's around the same time he was captured by the Wraith from Sateda," he explained, shaking his head.

"Carson found evidence of a tracking device, but claims it was surgically removed a couple of years ago. It does fit together nicely."

"You aren't suspicious, are you?" John questioned, tilting his head as he looked at Elizabeth.

She shook her head with a small smile. "I'm not worried."

"Good," he said with a grin. "If you start worrying, then I'll have to start, and that's never a good thing."

**Infirmary – Atlantis**

Ronon paced back and forth restlessly. Occasionally he would glance in Melena's direction, but he seemed wary of approaching her. He folded his arms over his chest; his mind was going a mile a minute.

Melena had only woken up a couple of times since he had arrived in the infirmary, but never for too long. She still had not said anything, only opening her eyes momentarily before falling back into unconsciousness. During those times, Ronon would cease his pacing as Carson attended to her, but he still could not bring himself to go to her side.

Ronon stopped pacing and looked over at Carson, irritably. "Can't you do _something_?"

"I don't know what I can do for her right now, Ronon." Carson said, looking up from his computer console and glancing at Ronon.

"Wake her up?" he suggested, looking over at Melena. He felt discouraged and helpless. He hated possessing such emotions; it enraged him that he couldn't do anything to help her.

"It's not that simple. She needs to wake up on her own. If I attempted to do it, it could make the situation worse. Maybe…"

"What?" he asked, his tone taking on a pleading quality as he looked at Carson.

"Maybe if you talked to her?"

"Talk to her?" he glanced over at Melena, unsure how _talking_ to her would help.

"The sound of a familiar voice… it might be comforting to her," Carson explained.

"She's unconscious," he said gruffly.

"Aye, but studies on Earth have proven that some patients respond to the voices of their loved ones when they are in a comatose state. They've claimed that it helped them back." Carson stood from the stool and walked over to Ronon. He placed his hand on the other man's arm. "Talk to her, it can't hurt," he said reassuringly. .

Ronon looked at Beckett, then to Melena. He sighed as he cautiously moved closer to the infirmary bed. He became more careful in his movements as he reached the foot of the bed. His dark eyes fell upon the woman he never imagined he would see again.

_The buzzing sounds of the Wraith darts were closing in on the heart of Sateda. He held onto the young girl in his arms, his eyes pleading with Melena. _

"_I can't... I can't Ronon, I can't go," she cried, tears dampening her cheeks. She could not leave these people behind to die. She looked at Ronon, her eyes locked with his. _I love you so much, Ronon. _She wanted to leave with him, but her decision to remain was not even a decision – she had chosen this life, she had a responsibility to these people. She could not turn her back on them._

_Within a second, the window had shattered into millions of shards, the pieces of glass flying everywhere. A raging fire sprung forth._

"_Melena!" he cried out, but it was too late. The flames had engulfed her. She was gone._

"Go on," Carson urged him.

_I saw you._ Ronon moved to the side of the bed, glancing over at Carson briefly. He pulled up a chair, taking a seat. He slipped one hand around hers; so small, so fragile and so familiar. _Melena…_

Ronon took his other hand and gently rubbed her arm soothingly. He leaned closer, "Melena…" he whispered softly. "It's… me, Ronon."

"Where we at?" McKay asked as he walked into the infirmary and straight towards Doctor Beckett.

"Still running tests and blood screens," Carson informed Rodney.

"What have the tests shown?" Rodney questioned as he leaned forward. Rodney nudged Carson a little, helping himself to a better view of the computer monitor.

Carson sighed, glancing up at Rodney. "No heart defeats, liver damage, or infections. No signs of active or dormant diseases of any kind. She's in exceptional heath."

"Did you check for any implanted tracking devices? Uh, kind of like, say, what her _husband_ had when we found him?"

"One of the first things, Rodney. There is evidence that she had a tracking device, but had it surgically removed. According to the scarring, it could have been as far back as a couple of years ago."

"And why hasn't she woken up?" McKay looked at Carson.

Carson rolled his eyes, annoyed with the constant bombardment of questions. "Shock seems to be the most likely answer. I can't be certain."

"What about the-"

"Here," Carson said, handing Rodney a small leather bag. "Why don't you take a look through this and let me know if you find anything that might help."

"A purse?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes at Carson.

"Aye."

Rodney reached into the bag and pulled out what appeared to be a walkie-talkie of some sort. "Huh… interesting piece of technology." Rodney looked the radio over quickly and nodded to himself before heading out of the infirmary.

"How's she doing?" John asked. He walked into the infirmary, closely followed by Teyla.

"Don't know," Ronon answered flatly.

"Perhaps you should get some rest?" Teyla suggested. She moved over to stand beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"I am fine," he said quietly.

"It will do neither of you any good if you do not take care of yourself, Ronon," Teyla advised him gently.

"I said I'm fine," he hissed, shrugging Teyla's hand off his shoulder.

"Listen to her, Ronon," John suggested.

Ronon looked up at John warily. "If I sleep, then I'll dream about her and when I wake up, none of this would have been real," he admitted, fearfully.

Teyla nodded softly, understanding. "I promise you, this is not a dream," she told him. "I would not mind staying here with her, so she is not alone."

"And if she wakes up?"

"I will come and get you immediately. I assure you, but right now you need to rest."

"Ronon," John started.

Ronon looked at John, his eyes pleading with him not to make him leave Melena's side.

John sighed; it was rare for Ronon to express such depth in his emotions. John felt conflicted, but he knew that Teyla was right–Ronon needed to rest.

A moan escaped Melena, interrupting the trio standing around her bed. Her eyes slowly opened, her vision blurred. She could not make out any of the figures crowding her. Fear crept into her bones. She squeezed her eyes closed, "Oh god."

"Carson!" John exclaimed, getting Beckett's attention.

"Melena?" Ronon squeezed her hand gently. "Melena, you're safe," he said reassuringly.

Carson moved over to the infirmary bed quickly. "I need you all to give her space."

"Ronon?" Melena asked softly, tilting her head towards him.

"Yes," he whispered.

"Please," Carson said again, his voice was firm.

Teyla touched Ronon's arm. "Come, it will only take him a couple of minutes."

Ronon growled lowly. He leaned forward, closer to Melena. "I won't be far," he whispered.

**Dr. Weir's Office – Atlantis**

"What? Never seen a purse before?" Rodney questioned, glaring at the technician who was eyeing the leather bag strapped over Rodney's shoulder. He reached Elizabeth's office door and knocked.

"Enter," she said from inside.

Rodney stepped into the office and walked over to Elizabeth's desk. He dropped the leather bag on the desktop and looked at her.

Elizabeth lifted a brow, looking up at Rodney. "What's this?" she asked with a slight smile.

"It's Melena's," he answered. "There wasn't much inside of interest, except for this." He held up the radio. "It's a short wave radio transmitter, similar to what we use - it serves the same purpose, but it's definitely far less advanced."

"Thank you, Rodney."

McKay quirked his brow as he looked at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth tilted her head slightly, "Is that all?"

"Well, yes," he said doubtfully.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at Rodney.

"Yes, yes, just thought you would like more of an explanation of this little wonder," he explained, waving the radio slightly.

"I'm good, Rodney," she said with a smile, "but thank you."

**Infirmary – Atlantis**

It didn't take long for Melena to regain her strength. She fought against Carson, ripping out the intravenous drip and other wires connected to her body. One of the monitors crashed to the ground, the sound echoing throughout the infirmary

She was panicking.

Sheppard and Ronon moved in quickly, trying to restrain Melena.

Ronon gripped his hands on her shoulders tightly. He flinched when she cried out from the pain, but he was left with no choice but to maintain the pressure. He pushed her down onto the bed as John restrained her legs and kept them from thrashing and kicking.

Teyla walked up to the end of the infirmary bed. "Shhh. You are safe here, Melena," she said consolingly.

"Ronon," she cried out softly.

Carson sighed, tapping his finger against a syringe. "Use the restraints," he said regrettably to Ronon and John.

Ronon growled.

"It's the only way," John reassured him.

"She's been through enough!" he spat out furiously.

"Aye, but she needs to calm down. If she doesn't, she'll end up hurting herself."

John pulled the Velcro padded restraints open, slipping them one at a time around Melena's ankles. He noticed the look of disgust and rage on Ronon's face as he followed suit, restraining her hands.

"Ronon… please," she whimpered.

Carson took the syringe to the intravenous drip. "This is just a sedative, not enough to put her to sleep, but enough to relax her."

Ronon scowled, looking over at John.

"He's the boss when it comes to the medical stuff," John told him.

"She will be alright, Ronon," Teyla said softly.

Carson injected the sedative into the drip. He placed his hand on Melena's shoulder lightly.

Her cheeks were soaked from her tears and her body was shaking fearfully as the sedative started to makes its way through her. She felt her muscles loosen; her body seemed to sink into the bed. "Ronon…" she whispered softly.

"I'm here, Mel…" he said as he moved back to her side.

"I'm sorry… I thought you… oh Ronon… it's been so long…"

"I know," he told her, lifting the back of his hand to lightly touch her cheek.

"I think it would be best if you let her rest," Carson suggested to John.

"Carson," he replied with a hint of warning in his voice.

"I'm sorry, but she needs rest," he explained, looking at John. "As far as I can tell, there's no immediate problem; however, she's obviously been through a lot of trauma. He can come back in a couple of hours."

Ronon leaned over, placing a soft kiss on her cheek before rising to his full height. "I will be back, Melena…" he whispered. He walked over to Carson and John. "I'll follow rules, for now."

**Ronon's Quarters – Atlantis **

Ronon tossed and turned restlessly; he could not sleep. His thoughts were elsewhere… on her. He could not wrap his mind around what was happening; how one minute he believed her to be dead, and the next… she was lying in the infirmary, very much alive.

He was no longer the man he had been on Sateda, and she was not the same woman – he could see it in her eyes. As much as time had taken from them, as much as the Wraith had taken… he was afraid that she would no longer love him, even though he only loves her more after everything he's been through.

Ronon sighed heavily, staring up at the ceiling. It was futile; sleep was evading him.

The sensor buzzed, indicating someone was outside. Ronon shifted his eyes to the door. He sat up, swinging his legs out and over the edge of the bed as he rubbed his eyes. He stood from the bed and walked over to the door, swiping his hand over the sensor.

The door opened, "Doctor?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Deus Ex Machina

**Date: **09/21/2006

**Author: **carpenyx

**Rating: **NC-17

**Warnings: **Sexual Content, Character Death

**Characters: **Ronon Dex centric w/the rest of the SGA main characters

**Spoilers: **Up through "Sateda" and "Progeny", alternate universe – set later in the third season.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own. Just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy. No copyright infringement intended.

**Summary: **He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 4**

**Ronon's Quarters – Atlantis**

"You have a visitor," Doctor Beckett said as he looked down at Melena who was sitting in a wheelchair in front of him. "She's very persistent," he commented.

Ronon knelt down in front of Melena, grinning knowingly as he looked up at Beckett.

"She asked to come see you," he explained.

"Is that really a good idea?" Ronon questioned, looking from Beckett to Melena with one eyebrow raised. "As long as it won't do her any harm, I want her to stay with me," he said, concern evident in his voice.

"I see no reason why she can't as long as you promise to bring her back to the infirmary in the morning. Besides, she was driving me crazy and wouldn't let it go until I caved in," he told the other man.

"Sounds about right," Ronon smirked, amused.

Melena smiled warmly, looking at Ronon. "Hush," she said softly.

Ronon winked at her before looking at Beckett.

"Alright then," Beckett said as Ronon stood up and moved out of the way. Beckett pushed the wheelchair into the room, positioning it by the foot of the bed. He turned, looking at Ronon. "First thing in the morning," he emphasized.

"Got it, first thing," he confirmed as his eyes locked on Melena who gave him another smile.

Beckett nodded and headed out.

Ronon lifted his finger to Melena, indicating he would only be a moment. He followed Beckett out into the hallway. "Hey Doctor?"

Beckett turned. "Yes, Ronon?"

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

Beckett gave him a smile. "You're welcome. See you in the morning. Good night."

Ronon turned and walked back into his quarters. He swiped his hand over the sensor, causing the door to close behind him. He moved over to Melena and sat on the edge of the bed. He took her hands into his as he looked into her eyes. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, his tone conveying his concern for her.

Melena smiled softly, nodding. "I don't want to be anywhere else but here with you, Ronon," she said softly.

Ronon rose from the bed slowly, moving around Melena. He slipped his arms around her back and under her knees, delicately. With ease, he lifted her up, cradling her in his arms – reminiscent of their wedding night. He carried her over to the bed, lowering her down carefully.

He moved around to the opposite side, pulling his shirt off over his head. He slid in under the covers next to her, feeling the once familiar sensation of having another by his side. A smile crossed his rugged features as he turned to face her, wrapping his arm around her gently, their bodies touching ever so lightly.

They embraced each other, remaining silent for the moment—all that mattered was that they had found each other… again.

**Infirmary – Atlantis**

Carson glanced up at the clock and frowned. _It's getting late._

He sipped his coffee, fending off imminent tiredness as he continued to go over the results of the tests he had performed on Melena earlier.

Carson yawned as he pulled up the newest set of results. He went to take another drink of his coffee, only to spill it down the front of his shirt when he saw what was on the screen. His eyes widened. "This can't be right."

He ignored the heat and dampness of the coffee as it soaked into his clothes. He punched in a few commands on the keyboard and the results came up again. "What the…" he cursed under his breath, his eyes transfixed on the computer monitor.

**Ronon's Quarters**

Ronon moved closer to Melena, slipping his other arm under her and bringing her closer to him. He held onto her tenderly, resting his chin against her shoulder. He closed his eyes, letting the familiar scent of her fill his nostrils and imprint on his mind again. _Is this real?_

She closed her eyes tight and laid her arms over his, her fingers tracing his skin lightly. "I remember waking up several times," she whispered softly.

He pulled her closer, tightening his arms around her lovingly, hoping to comfort her as she began to share what had happened to her.

"I was trapped in some sort of cocoon," she explained. "Hours, days, weeks… I don't know." She bit her lower lip, anxiously. "They came… took me to her…"

Ronon clenched his teeth, angrily.

She hesitated to continue, feeling his muscles tighten in anger. "She tried, but something wasn't right… she got angry," she murmured, remembering that night so many moons ago. "So angry. They did something, so much pain… a tracking device," she said. "Then they let me go."

He growled lowly.

Melena opened her eyes and turned slowly in Ronon's arms in order to face him. She reached out, touching the side of his face with the back of her hand gently. "For three years, I ran… if I stayed too long in one place, they'd come. I heard stories of other runners, and I used to dream that you'd show up," she whispered brokenly, tears threatening to overtake her. "I gave up and I'm sorry, Ronon. I shouldn't have given up on you."

Ronon placed his hand against her face, wiping the tears with his thumb softly. He shook his head. "You have no reason to be sorry, Mel… it's not your fault."

"There's more..." she told him. "Three years had passed when I came to Bethdsha. That's where I got the device removed," she paused. "His name is… was Talus."

Ronon felt a sharp pang in his heart at the same time he caught sight of the bruising around her wrists out of the corner of his eye.

She quickly withdrew her hand, rolling onto her side – facing away from him. She sighed softly. "He saved me, Ronon. I thought… I didn't think you were alive. I'm… I'm sorry."

"Who did this to you?" he spat out angrily, reaching over her and taking her wrist into his hand – his grasp gentle despite his fury.

She swallowed, hard. "He was a good man, but he changed…" she admitted. "I thought loving him would help, but it didn't. I tried… I couldn't. It wasn't long before he took others to be his… and I soon became nothing more than…" She inhaled sharply, shaking her head, unable to go on.

He hugged her tightly. "Shh," he whispered into her ear, holding onto her.

"I'm so sorry, Ronon," she whispered.

Instinctively, all he wanted to do hunt down the bastard for touching _his_ wife.

Melena closed her eyes, sighing softly.

"There's nothing to forgive, Melena," he assured her.

They had believed each other dead—he could not blame her. He could accept that she'd moved on and found another, despite the fact it broke his heart to imagine another man loving her, but he would not accept _anyone_ hurting her.

**McKay's Quarters – Atlantis**

The lights in Rodney's quarters were dimmed. Sleep had decided it wanted to take control of the situation, thus Rodney had temporarily abandoned his study of the transmitter radio Melena had brought with her.

Rodney was lying comfortably in his bed, snoring quite loudly. He'd had a long day with frogs, lemons, and purses, which were the basis for him bringing his work here. He snuggled up to his pillow, falling deeper into a sleeping state.

The transmitter radio stood upright on Rodney's desk. The radio seemed to be harmless until a faint red light started blinking…

**Ronon's Quarters**

"My village," she paused, "my new village… all but destroyed. I ran, I didn't know if anyone else was alive. I left, didn't look back, not even for a second when the Wraith came," she said as tears started to dampen her cheeks. "I'm not sure how I got to the City of the Ancestors," she admitted. "Or how you are alive. I keep feeling as if this is all some dream and I'll wake up at any moment and be back on Bethdsha, without you."

"It's not a dream, Melena," he assured her. "I'm here," he said, kissing her shoulder softly.

"Ronon…" she murmured.

Ronon carefully guided Melena so that she faced him once again. "I love you, Melena and that hasn't changed," he explained to her.

Melena shook her head, "But how Ronon? So much time has gone by. You're different… I'm different."

"I never stopped," he told her, cupping her face in his hands. "You're the reason I'm still alive, even now. I kept going because of you." He pulled her closer, pressing his lips against hers softly.

She fell into the kiss eagerly, slipping her arms around him. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be with him, to be held and loved in such a way that no one else could ever hope to achieve.

Ronon slowly slipped his fingers down the nape of neck, sliding them under the string that held her gown on. He pulled the cord, effectively untying it, and carefully peeled away the cloth from her shoulder. Gently, his hand explored her shoulder blade, moving further down. He could feel the rough surface of the scars that adorned her back… the many scars that covered her once flawless body. His finger traced them lightly. He choked back tears, only to lean down and kiss her again adoringly.

She flinched a little as his touch discovered her imperfections. She felt exposed and ashamed. Slipping her hand around the back of his neck, she pulled him deeper into the kiss, wanting to forget everything and exist only in this moment.

He slipped the gown over her arms carefully, removing it and exposing her naked form. Breaking the kiss, his eyes fell on her body… it was as he remembered, even after the years of hardship it had experienced. "We don't have to do this," he told her quietly as he ran his fingers through her brown tresses.

"I know," she whispered, her brown eyes meeting his. "It's okay…"

He brought his lips to his wife's, kissing her affectionately. His tongue teased her lips, parting them gently - their tongues met and entwined hungrily. He slipped his hand under the small of her back, raising her slightly and pressing closer into her as he continued to kiss her earnestly.

She moaned softly against his lips, draping her arms around him. She suckled tenderly on his lower lip, nipping it lightly with her teeth before engulfing him deeper into the kiss.

The heat between them grew as their bodies pressed against each other. Hesitantly, Ronon broke the kiss, rising from the bed. He unbuckled his belt and removed the rest of his clothing. His eyes met Melena's, a smile crossing his face, and he positioned himself beside her delicately. His hand slipped up the length of her leg, coming to rest steadily against her thigh. He brought his lips to hers again.

She tilted her head back slightly, bringing her body closer to his. She shuddered slightly as she felt his hardness pressing against her abdomen. "Ronon…" she murmured against his lips.

His traced the tip of his tongue along her jaw, down the length of her neck and finally to her shoulder. He inhaled deeply, letting the sweet scent of honey overtake him – he moaned – recalling his wife's scent so well. His heart swelled with love as he let his hand part her legs slowly, looking into her brown eyes deeply. "I love you, Mel…" he whispered quietly.

She bit her lower lip softly, her eyes meeting his. She smiled warmly; her body was aching for her husband to take her, and her eyes conveyed just how much.

Ronon positioned himself against her cautiously, his movements signifying his uncertainty. He felt the heat radiating between her legs as he slowly moved in closer. He pressed against her, parting her opening and sliding into her. He could feel her body tensing against his as he moved further inside of her - he was doing everything he could to keep his motions gentle.

Melena lifted her hips, pressing them against Ronon, causing him to move deeper within her. A soft moan escaped her as she reached up, placing her hand against the back of her husband's neck and pulling him into a desperate kiss.

He pushed further, being even gentler as he moved deeper, still hesitant with his movements.

She urged him on, pressing her hips against his softly.

Ronon moved in rhythm with her, abandoning his reservations as he moved deeper with each thrust. He felt her warmth wrapped around him, tightening as she pulled him further into her - their bodies rocking against each other gingerly. A moan escaped his lips. "Oh Melena…"

With every thrust, their movements intensified, matching each other profoundly.

Melena shuddered as her climax washed over her, sending shivers down her spine. She arched her back, pressing harder against Ronon.

In the wake of her pleasure, one more deep thrust caused him to release, his body shaking as he collapsed beside her. Breathing heavily, he wrapped his arms around her, savoring this moment of sweet surrender.

She buried her face against his chest, her own heaving as she took deep breaths. "I love you…" she whispered hoarsely.

"Always," he murmured, a smile crossing his features.

**McKay's Quarters**

**Early Morning**

The faint red light from the radio continued to flash repeatedly as the sun rose over Atlantisthe rays streaming through the cracks of the blinds that covered the windows.

Rodney batted at the rays of light, groaning irritably. He rolled over, covering his face with his pillow. _Too early!_

A few seconds later, he peeked out from under the pillow and glanced at the clock on his nightstand. As he sat up, swinging his legs out over the edge of the bed, he grumbled under his breath and stretched his arms, yawning. Catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, Rodney looked around. Eventually his gaze fell upon the transmitter radio – the red light blinking repetitively.

"Oh, that's not good," he moaned dejectedly.

**Ronon's Quarters**

The sun was making its way over the horizon as Ronon removed his arms from around Melena, being careful not to wake her. He rose from the bed and glanced down at the sleeping form of his wife, a rare and warm smile crossing his features.

He walked over to the chair where his clothes had been tossed carelessly hours ago. He pulled his shirt on over his head, proceeding to get dressed. He sat down in the chair when he pulled on his boots, being extra quiet to ensure he would not wake Melena from her slumber.

He grabbed his gun, holstering it on his hip before walking over to the door. He slid his hand over the sensor, the door sliding open. He looked back over his shoulder at Melena. _I'm sorry…_

**Dr. Weir's Office – Atlantis**

Carson rushed through the hallways of _Atlantis_. He was breathing heavily, grasping a pile of papers tightly in his hands as he half walked, and half ran. He dodged people left and right, almost tripping over his own feet in the process. He hurried up the stairs to the control room, rushing past the technicians and heading to the door of Elizabeth's office.

He knocked furiously on the door.

"Enter," Elizabeth said.

Carson swiped his hand over the sensor - the door opened and he walked inside, breathing hard. "Doctor Weir," he said as he attempted to catch his breath.

"What is it, Carson?" she asked, a concerned look on her face. She stood up from her desk and walked over to him.

He looked at her, sighing. "You might want to take a look at these," he suggested as he handed her the slightly crumpled papers.

Elizabeth looked at Carson for a moment before taking the papers. She started to read through them, scanning over the contents briefly. She hadn't even finished with the first page when she looked up at Carson, a horrified expression on her face. "Are you sure?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Deus Ex Machina

**Date: **10/01/2006

**Author:** carpenyx

**Rating:** NC-17

**Warnings:** Sexual Content, Character Death

**Characters:** Ronon Dex centric w/the rest of the SGA main characters

**Spoilers:** Up through "Sateda" and "Progeny", alternate universe – set later in the third season.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own. Just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy. No copyright infringement intended.

**Summary:** He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 5**

**John Sheppard's Quarters – Atlantis**

**Early Morning**

_I will seek revenge._

Ronon made his way through the corridor, his mind made up. He clenched onto the gun holstered against his hip as he rounded the corner and headed down another long hallway, one that lead to Sheppard's quarters.

When he reached his destination, he swiped his hand over the sensor of Sheppard's door, causing the buzzer to sound.

After Ronon had activated the buzzer for a second time, the door slid open.

Sheppard looked up at the other man, covering his mouth as he yawned sleepily. He scrunched his face in confusion, wondering why Ronon was knocking on his door at this time of the morning, and on their day off no less.

"I need your help," Ronon said urgently, his hand twitching anxiously against his gun.

Sheppard quirked one eyebrow, looking from Ronon's agitated hand back to his face. "What time is it?" he asked casually.

"Sunrise," Ronon answered, clearly annoyed.

"Exactly," Sheppard commented with a nod of his head. "It's before 0600 and it's my day off, what could possibility be more important than sleeping in?" he asked, thoughtfully.

"You're not going to like it," Ronon said gruffly. "In fact, you're going to hate it."

"I'm sure I will," John agreed, folding his arms in front of him as he leaned against the entryway to his room.

"I need to get through the Gate," Ronon said.

"Go on," Sheppard told him, wondering where Ronon was heading with this.

"Jumpers," he said without hesitation. "You can fly them. I can't."

"And why would we need a jumper?" John asked, looking at Ronon curiously.

"To get through the Gate, without being stopped," he explained, crossing his arms impatiently.

Sheppard shook his head in disbelief. "You can't be serious?"

"I will get through the Gate with or without your help, Sheppard," Ronon told him boldly. "It will be a hell of lot easier and faster-"

"Ronon," John warned.

"I refuse to sit back and do nothing while there's a chance the man responsible for hurting my wife is still alive," he said, frustrated and beginning to get angry, well… angrier.

"You don't know if anyone survived the culling on that planet," Sheppard reasoned.

"If he didn't survive then the Wraith did the work for me. Either way, I need to know," Ronon said, a roguish smirk on his face.

"Did you run this by Elizabeth?" John asked, but he already knew the answer.

"No, she'd be against this and you know it." He looked at John, growing impatient. "I'm not asking you as the ranking military officer – I'm asking you as my friend," he explained.

Sheppard sighed apprehensively. _Had to throw in the friend card, didn't you?_

**Ronon's Quarters**

It wasn't long before haunting images and memories interrupted her once soundless sleep. It rattled her to the core as she dreamt on, causing her to toss and turn relentlessly.

_She exited the Ring, her dark brown eyes quickly scanning the area. The Ring was placed in a clearing, surrounded by tall, ancient trees. The sky was pale red, and it was emitting a colored glow over the planet. It did not appear to be occupied with inhabitants, or at least not within the immediate area of the Ring._

_She moved in haste, reaching the tree line. She stayed off the dirt path, keeping to the high foliage and trees for camouflage. Her movements were swift and skilled – she had become an expert in keeping hidden and living on pure instinct during the last couple of years she had spent running._

_Melena caught her breath as she looked around; there was an eerie feeling seeping through her veins._

_A twig snapped nearby; she stopped dead in her tracks and kneeled, concealing herself with the foliage. _

_She did not even see it coming; she turned and all she remembered was a blue energy burst coming straight toward her – she fell back._

_---_

_Melena's eyes fluttered open and she groaned, every muscle in her body screaming in pain. She was lying facedown against a hard and cold surface. She attempted to move, but she couldn't; her body was restrained._

"_You're safe," came a man's voice calmly._

"_Where am I?" she hissed furiously._

"_You are safe," the man reassured her as he placed his hand on her shoulder gently._

_The man's hand was cold, freezing, and _unnatural_. She spat angrily, straining against the bindings, but her struggles were futile._

---

"_Why do you continue to shut me out, Melena?" Talus accused her, grabbing onto her arm forcefully._

"_I'm sorry," she said quietly, looking away from him automatically._

"_I am your husband. I have given you everything," he argued._

"_I know, Talus and I am grateful for everything-"_

_He loosened his grasp and pulled her into his arms. "I don't mean to get so angry with you, Melena, but you keep pushing me away," he said._

_Melena sighed softly, wrapping her arms around Talus, "Talus, I love you, I do." _But my heart belongs to another… it always will.

---

"_It's almost time," the other woman's voice echoed as she moved around the table, placing her hand against Melena's arm._

"_I know," she whispered as she closed her eyes. _

_---_

_Melena fell backwards from the impact, her back slamming against the wall. She slid down to the floor, her muscles quivering from the immense pain that was surging through her damaged body._

_Talus towered over her, tilting his head. With hatred in his dark eyes, he reached for her wrist to pull her back up to her feet, proceeding to violate the woman he had once claimed to love._

---

"_I will always love you, Melena," Ronon told her softly as he held onto her hands. He looked deep into her brown eyes, in awe of her radiating beauty. "I promise to always be with you, in life and in death," he vowed as he smiled warmly to the woman his was about to be united to, forever._

"_Ronon, I promise to love you for the rest of my days and beyond this life," she said quietly, her eyes welling up with tears of joy as she looked up at Ronon._

_The priest bowed his head and began the prayer to the ancestors, asking them to bless this union. When he finished, he took a small, but strong, piece of twine and tied it around both Ronon and Melena's wrists, pronouncing their union to all of their friends and family gathered._

---

"_You know what you have to do?" the tall, slender woman told Melena, her hand resting against her shoulder._

"_Of course," she said absolutely._

"_Good," the other woman said with a nod._

---

"_Welcome home Melena Sadira Dex," Ronon said happily as he carried his bride across the threshold of their home. He set her down carefully before pulling her into a passionate kiss._

_She returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you, Ronon," she whispered after breaking the kiss._

_Ronon smiled down at her. "You don't belong here."_

_Melena flinched, lifting a brow as she looked up at Ronon. "What?" she said shakily, her lower lip quivering slightly._

_He cupped his against the back of her thighs and lifted her, wrapping her legs around his mid-section. "You're not right," he told her, a smile still on his face as he combed his fingers through her hair, his other hand supporting her. "You don't belong."_

_---_

_Melena inclined her head as she looked at him. "Ronon?"_

_Ronon shook his head, standing in front of a large window. "I can't. I can't, Melena… you don't belong here," he said, his voice cracking as he stared into her eyes._

"_Ronon?" she asked again as the sounds of Wraith darts started zipping through the city._

"_You're not right, Melena," he whispered as the window shattered, the glass flying everywhere as the flames engulfed him._

"_Ronon!" she screamed as she collapsed to her knees._

_He was gone._

"Ronon!" Melena called out, waking abruptly from her sleep. She reached across the bed; it was empty. She sat up quickly, looking around frantically.

"Melena?" came a soft voice from the corner of the room; she had heard it before, it was the woman from the previous night.

"Where am I?" she asked confusedly. Melena looked in the direction of the voice.

"Atlantis," Teyla told her gently as she stood, placing the book she had been reading on the nearby table. She moved over to the other woman, tilting her head slightly. "You are safe here, Melena. You were quite restless; I gathered you were having a bad dream?"

"Where's Ronon?" she interrupted, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

"He… had some things to attend to," Teyla explained. "He asked me to stay with you until you woke up. I am supposed to take you to see Doctor Beckett soon."

"What?" Melena looked up at Teyla.

Teyla inclined her head. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she said flatly.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No," Melena replied as she looked around briefly before turning her gaze back to Teyla.

Silence overtook both women. Melena fingers fidgeted around the edge of the blanket covering her as she stared in front of her. Teyla remained standing, watching the other woman. "Are you sure that I can not get you anything?"

Within moments Melena had maneuvered herself out of the bed, and with one precise and direct motion she had Teyla up against the wall, her hand wrapped firmly around the other woman's neck. "I said _no_," she spat out angrily.

Shocked, Teyla struggled against Melena's grasp. Surprisingly, Melena possessed strength that she had not anticipated. She attempted to cough, but her airway was being cut off. "P... lease," she choked out, her hands grabbing into the strong woman's wrists tightly as the color started to drain from her face.

Melena stared into Teyla's eyes, and a small smirk crossed her features.

**Laboratory – Atlantis**

McKay muttered as he removed the back panel of the radio transmitter. His hands were shaking nervously as he used a pair of scissors to cut the connecting wire, causing the red light to cease blinking.

As he removed the embedded device from the radio with tweezers, he placed the now useless radio on the table. He turned the small device over, looking at it curiously. _It's much more advanced than the radio…_

McKay inspected it, and once satisfied that it was deactivated, he set the tiny foreign device under a microscope for further inspection. He leaned over, adjusting the settings on the eyepiece and proceeded to study the piece of advanced equipment.

"Shit… oh, this is so not good," he mumbled as he quickly grabbed his reports and the device, placing it in a clear plastic bag before he hurried out of the laboratory.

**Jumper Bay – Atlantis**

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Sheppard said, sitting down in the pilot's seat of the jumper as he looked over at Ronon.

"You can back out," Ronon told him as he took his place in the co-pilot's seat.

"And you'd still find a way to go," John commented as he powered up the jumper, the lights turning on and the engines firing up.

Ronon shrugged.

"Either scenario isn't very appealing," Sheppard explained. "I'm not about to let you go by yourself, and I'm not really big on the whole breaking-of-the-rules."

"You're not?" Ronon asked, giving Sheppard _that_ look before smirking slightly.

"Well, okay… so I tend to break the rules a little – this is different," he admitted, "Elizabeth isn't going to like this."

"I said you could back out."

"She'll have every right to demote me," Sheppard commented.

Ronon shrugged his shoulders again. "Tell her I took you hostage or something."

"And she'll have every reason to kick you off the team," Sheppard added, looking at Ronon.

"I have to do this," he told him, looking out the puddle-jumper window.

Sheppard nodded, reluctantly maneuvering the jumper over the hatch in the center of the Jumper bay. The hatch slid open when the jumper was in position and they descended down into the Gate Room.

As Ronon gave the coordinates to Sheppard, he punched them in, dialing up the planet of _Bethdsha_.

**Dr. Weir's Office**

Elizabeth looked at Carson. "Are you sure about this?"

"Aye," he said regretfully.

Elizabeth turned the page of the report, scanning over the document. "Why wasn't this seen on the initial tests?" she asked in a tightly controlled voice, angry that they had missed something so important.

Carson shook his head. "We didn't consider _this_ possibility, and I realize it was a grave mistake… on my part."

"This is more than a mistake, Carson. We've put Atlantis in danger," she said dismally, looking at Atlantis' leading doctor.

"_Doctor Weir, we have a situation,_" the technician on duty announced over the commutations system.

She tapped her earpiece, shaking her head. "What's going on?"

"_The Stargate is dialing up… on its' – you better get out here, Doctor Weir,_" the technician advised.

Elizabeth cursed under her breath as she handed the report back to Carson. She hurried out of her office and into the control room, Carson following closely behind her.

"What's the problem?" she asked, her eyes shifted to the Gate Room just in time to see one of the puddle-jumpers lower down in front of the control room.

"That is ma'am," the technician said quietly.

"John?" she questioned as she walked over to the overhang. "What do you think you're doing?"

Sheppard, piloting the jumper, turned the ship to face the control room and Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, looking at the confusion and evident anger growing on her face.

"John!" she shouted as she moved to the railing of the overhang.

The jumper turned away from Elizabeth, facing the Stargate.

"Colonel Sheppard! Stand down now!" she ordered, but received no response.

The Stargate activated, the event-horizon springing forth. In haste, the technician activated the shield.

"Shut the Gate down now!" she barked to the technician.

The shield lowered, and before the technician could reengage the shield, the jumper zipped through.

Elizabeth hissed, slamming her hand against the railing angrily.

"Elizabeth!" McKay yelled as he hurried up the steps to the control room, his breathing labored. "We have a serious problem," he told her.

"And why am I not surprised?" she said through gritted teeth as she shook her head.

"Excuse me?" McKay asked, glancing at the gate.

"It seems that Colonel Sheppard and Ronon have decided to disobey orders, and Melena-"

"It's about her," McKay interjected.

Elizabeth looked at McKay warily.

**Ronon's Quarters**

Melena growled as she tightened her grasp around Teyla's neck. As the moments passed - her strength grew tenfold, her injuries having miraculously healed. She kept her eyes locked on the other woman as she continued to choke the life out of her.

The room was spinning. Teyla squirmed, trying desperately to fight against Melena, but it was ineffective. She was losing this battle, becoming weaker by the second, and she felt the last of her air supply being used up. Her eyes closed as her body went limp in Melena's powerful grip.

Distracted, her eyes shifted to the door as the military marines stormed in and surrounded Melena, their guns aimed on her. She smirked.

Elizabeth came into Ronon's quarters, followed by both Doctor Beckett and McKay.

"Let her go," Elizabeth ordered.

Melena tilted her head, looking at Elizabeth. Her eyes flashed violently. She released her hold on Teyla, letting the unconscious woman sink to the floor.

Carson hurried over to Teyla, kneeling down beside her.

"Get away from her," Melena hissed, looking down at Carson.

"I will not," he said firmly as he proceeded to check for Teyla's pulse.

Melena reached down, grabbing onto Carson's shirt.

"Carson!" someone called out.

Carson looked up at Melena, fear evident in his eyes.

The marines readied their guns and the head of the team looked in Doctor Weir's direction, waiting for an order.

Melena released Doctor Beckett and turned, her eyes focused on Elizabeth.

"We know what you are," Elizabeth stated.

"Do you?" she asked, inclining her head in the other direction as she regarded Elizabeth.

"Asuran," Elizabeth said through clenched teeth.

Melena grinned slowly. "Then you know there is nothing you can do to stop what is about to happen, Doctor Weir," she said flatly, her expression changing only to laugh in response to the look on Elizabeth's face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Deus Ex Machina (6/?)  
**Date:** 10/26/2006  
**Author:** carpenyx  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Characters:** Main SGA Characters, with appearances by Zelenka and Major Lorne.  
**Pairings:** Ronon/Melena  
**Word Count:** 4,090  
**Warnings:** Character Death, Sexual Content  
**Spoilers:** Through season 3, most importantly "Sateda", "Progeny", "The Real World" and "The Return: Part 1". This story takes place in a future alternate season 3.**  
Beta:** nytel  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own, just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy with my Flyboys. No copyright infridgement intended.  
**Summary:** He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 6**

**Forest - Bethdsha**

Upon first glance, the planet seemed uninhabited. The Stargate was centered in a large clearing, surrounded by towering ancient trees. If one listened carefully, they could hear the sounds of the wildlife that occupied the area. It was nearing sunset – the sky was pale red due to the several suns that orbited Bethdsha.

John, piloting the jumper, headed towards the tree line. With ease and precision, he managed to land the jumper as close as possible to the trees for camouflage.

Once the jumper was safely powered down, both men geared up and headed out the rear door, activating the cloaking device once they were outside.

With his P-90 nestled against his shoulder, John scanned the immediate area. "All clear," he stated as he moved towards the forest, hesitantly – he wasn't certain of what would be accomplished by coming here. Ronon followed closely behind him.

"We might want to reconsider," John suggested as he repositioned his P-90.

"No," Ronon replied gruffly as he took refuge against a tree. Raising his pistol, he shifted his eyes, surveying the area.

"All right then," John said reluctantly as he began to follow Ronon's lead. He crouched down behind another tree. "Doesn't look all that promising," he commented. "The village could be anywhere and we're blind. Should've grabbed the life signs detector," he said regrettably.

"Don't need it," Ronon told him quietly, looking in his direction.

"You know where you're going?" he asked curiously.

"No," Ronon replied.

"Then how do you-"

"There's a path," Ronon said. He pointed in the direction of a barely visible dirt trail.

"Oh," John said under his breath as he looked over in the direction Ronon indicatedJohn rose to his full height as he gestured to Ronon, "After you."

---

After about a mile of walking, Ronon stopped suddenly and raised his hand, indicating that John should stop as well. "Hear something?" John asked quietly.

"Yeah," he responded as he waved John over to hide behind one of the trees, while he took cover behind another. He looked at John, pointing in two different directions. Both positioned their weapons, remaining silent. "They're surrounding us," he whispered, his eyes darting from left to right.

"They?" he asked, surprised. He had expected all, if not most, of the inhabitants of the planet to be dead.

"They," Ronon confirmed.

"Great," John muttered sarcastically. "Everything's going according to plan." He crouched lower, his gun supported against his shoulder and his finger hovering over the trigger.

**Doctor Weir's Office – Atlantis**

"Major Lorne," Elizabeth greeted him as he stepped into her office.

"Morning, Doctor Weir," he said as he folded his arms.

She sighed, shaking her head, clearly frustrated. "I need you and your team to recover Colonel Sheppard and Ronon," she explained. She rose from her desk, circling it and sitting on the edge of the desk. "I can't stress enough how important it is to bring them home as soon as possible."

Lorne nodded. "Of course, Doctor Weir."

"Thank you," she said. "How soon can you and your team be ready?"

"An hour?"

"Good. I expect you to check in within four hours, if you haven't returned."

"Of course."

**Holding Cell – Atlantis**

Melena opened her eyes slowly. The room was spinning as she pushed herself up off the floor, rising to her feet. She inclined her head, looking around the confines of the holding cell before walking over to one of the walls. She reached out and received a surge of electricity. She flinched, a feral growl escaping her.

She began to pace back and forth, her eyes darting from one direction to another as she surveyed the confinement and catalogued every detail. Her eyes caught sight of a camera bolted to the corner of the ceiling. She grinned slowly as she saw that the camera was positioned on her. "It is only a matter of time before these walls will no longer hold me!" she hissed angrily before she ran into the cell wall again, her body taking another jolt of electricity.

**Forest - Bethdsha**

"This should be fun," John said sardonically. He smirked faintly, his back up against Ronon's and their guns aimed at the dozen men who were circling them, their weapons trained on the two invaders of their world. "Got any plans?"

"Yeah, one," Ronon replied frankly.

"Care to share?" John asked as both men moved with the group of soldiers, turning in a circle of their own.

Ronon grinned roguishly as he fired his energy pistol, taking out several of the military soldiers before John realized what his plan _was_. "What a plan," John muttered as he squeezed the trigger of his P-90, sending warning shots into the air.

Those shots meant nothing and without warning, several energy blasts traveled in their direction, stunning both Ronon and John instantaneously. Both men collapsed to the ground as they slipped into unconsciousness.

**Holding Cell – Atlantis**

Enraged, Melena punched her fist against the barrier repeatedly - it did nothing but send more shocks of electricity into her system. Her final attempt caused her to stumble backwards, her head lowering as she hissed, and her vision blurring as a piercing pain traveled up her spine until it reached the base of her skull.

The pain progressed causing her to bite down on her lower lip, her teeth nicking the sensitive skin, and blood began to seep through the small cut. Soon, she was unable to keep her balance and she collapsed to her knees as she placed her head in her hands. Melena let out a chilling scream.

"_Ronon?" Melena whispered softly. She snuggled up to him, draping her arm over his bare chest._

"_Yes, Mel?" he replied, brushing her dark locks from her face and tucking one strand of hair behind her ear gingerly._

"_I love you," she admittedly shyly. It was the first time she ever uttered those words to him, even though she had loved him from the moment they met._

_A grin slowly spread across Ronon's face as he cupped her face in his hand, drawing her closer. "I love you too," he told her breathlessly as he engulfed her in a deep and loving kiss._

"No!" Melena screamed as her fingers tangled in her hair. The pain was increasing as memories threatened to cripple her. She tightened her grip, pulling angrily as her body trembled from the rush of images attacking her mind. "Lies!" she spat out, enraged.

She didn't know how much longer she could handle the sudden assault of memories; her head was throbbing with pain, her vision was laced with blackness and silver speckles as she tried to regain control.

"_Wh…ere… am… I?" she coughed, blood spattering onto the ground. Her clothes were covered in layers of blood, mud, and shredded. She inhaled sharply as she looked up at the man who had knelt down beside her._

"_You are safe now," he explained to her. He placed his hand against her shoulder, his cold and unnatural hand. "You are in the City of the Ancestors," he told her with a warm smile._

"_W...what?" she managed to get out as she coughed again, her body shaking._

"_We will take good care of you, my dear," a woman said as she joined the man, kneeling beside him. She, too, smiled but there was an eerie aura behind her action._

"_Pain… so... much pain… pl… please," she whimpered._

"_Shh," another man whispered from behind her as the man beside her reached out, and shoved his head into her forehead, causing Melena to scream out in excruciating pain as the man probed her mind._

Another scream escaped her as she doubled over, the pain overtaking her and her mind being cluttered with images and flashes of a life she couldn't even be sure was her own. She curled up, her body shaking violently as she clenched her teeth. The pain was becoming unbearable.

**Detention Center – Bethdsha**

He didn't know how much time had passed when he woke. His hands were bound behind his back. A growl escaped him as he looked over at John. "Sheppard?"

John groaned, opening his eyes. "What happened?" he questioned, looking around slowly. "What the…?" he muttered, feeling the restraints tied around his wrists.

"We were captured," Ronon told him as he yanked on the bindings, trying to pry them apart, but it was useless. He hissed angrily.

"Yup, this was a great plan," John commented dryly as he struggled against his restraints.

"You could've backed out," Ronon suggested with a slight grin.

John rolled his eyes.

When the bunker door opened, both men looked up. Ronon narrowed his eyes as several guards walked into the room, followed by what appeared to be the ranking military officer. The man tilted his head as he looked between both prisoners. "I see you are awake," the man said.

"Very observant," Sheppard said smugly.

The man chuckled lightly.

"You in charge?" Ronon asked, his eyes trained on the man.

"More or less," the man stated as he moved closer to the prisoners. He crouched down slowly, coming to eye level with them. "And who might you be?"

Ronon gritted his teeth, struggling against the restraints.

"Colonel Sheppard."

"And your friend here?"

"Ronon," he spat out. Ronon glared at the man.

"What is your purpose for coming to Bethdsha?" the other man questioned.

"We're on a simple trade-"

"Looking for a man named Talus," Ronon interrupted Sheppard, who sighed, lowering his head, discouraged.

"Talus," the man said, nodding his head. "What business do you have with Talus?"

Ronon and Sheppard exchanged looks for a moment before returning their attention to the military officer. "We just want to talk about some trading options with him," John explained.

"I see." The man rose to his feet. "Untie them," he ordered the guards who walked over behind the two men and cut the restraints from them wrists, freeing them. "I do apologize for the harsh measures, however, we have been subjected to quite a number of attacks from warring planets and the Wraith," the man explained. "I have become very wary of visitors."

John rubbed his wrists, looking at the man. "We understand," he said.

Ronon quirked his brow, looking at John.

Sheppard looked at Ronon, having a pretty good idea what he was thinking as he gave him a slight shrug before looking back toward the officer.

"So, you are seeking Talus for trade?"

"Yes," John confirmed.

"I am Talus," he said as he looked between both John and Ronon.

Ronon felt every muscle in his body tighten at the man's words. He narrowed his eyes, his lip twitching every so slightly as he felt the rage creep through his veins.

"Come," Talus said as he gestured for the guards to open the bunker door. "We shall talk over dinner."

**Doctor Weir's Office **

"Elizabeth?" Rodney said as he tapped his knuckles against the doorframe of her office.

She looked up from the reports Carson had given her earlier. Rodney noticed the dark circles forming under her eyes and the paleness of her skin. It was obvious that Elizabeth was distressed over the events of the day. She leaned back in the chair, sighing softly. "Come in, Rodney."

He walked inside, taking a seat on the opposite side of her desk, across from her.

"You did a good job today, Rodney," she said with a hint of smile.

_Rodney looked from Elizabeth to Melena - unsure of his ability to carry out the plan. He really wished Zelenka were the one to do this; it was his idea after all. Rodney clenched his teeth and kept his hand grasped firmly around the object behind his back. _

"_Do it," Elizabeth ordered Rodney, just above a whisper. She kept her eyes on Melena._

_He pulled the weapon out from behind his back, raising it to point at Melena. He swallowed hard as he squeezed the trigger. The pistol sent a white energy blast towards her._

_The energy blast struck and stunned her, causing her to collapse to the ground beside Teyla and Carson. Her body went rigid and her eyes widened with surprise before the effects of the weapon overtook her and she slipped into unconsciousness. The marines moved in quickly to immobilize her._

_Anxiously, Rodney gripped onto the gun tightly – his knuckles turning white as he kept his eyes locked on Melena. His hand was shaking and sweat had coated his forehead._

"_Get her out of here," Elizabeth ordered the marines as she stepped to the side, out of the way. She turned to Rodney, "Good job."_

"_Uh, yeah, it was nothing," he said. His hand was shaking even more as he held the gun - it was still aimed at the spot where Melena had stood._

Rodney shrugged his shoulders. "Anytime," he said proudly.

Elizabeth nodded. "So, explain to me again how that gun was able to immobilize her, when anything else we've used in the past on the Asurans has failed?"

"Oh, that's simple," Rodney said as a matter-of-factly. "A couple of months ago, when we first encountered the Asurans, Ronon's pistol was the only thing that seemed to have any effect on them.

"So, Zelenka and I attempted to duplicate the energy signature of Ronon's gun. Even though we don't know much about it, we were still able to mimic the type of energy it produces. We constructed several prototypes, none of which worked until I came up with the idea to link them to Ronon's gun, using his gun as a charger. Actually, it's almost exactly l like a battery charger, it produces enough energy in the chambers of our prototypes so that we can use them," he explained with enthusiasm.

"And why wasn't I aware of such tests?" Elizabeth inquired with a slight smile. She tilted her head, looking at Rodney.

"It was going to be a surprise?" he suggested.

"I'm impressed, Rodney. I never thought we'd have something that was of use against-"

"Well…" he said, looking at her with a doubtful look. "The prototypes aren't quite the answer we're looking for. We can only get one or two shots out of it before it stops working. They won't hold a charge any longer and we aren't sure why."

"So we only have one more shot left before the gun's useless?"

"Exactly."

"Great," Elizabeth said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

**Infirmary – Atlantis**

Teyla stirred from her sleep and opened her eyes slowly. She was lying in the infirmary, hooked up to several machines, all of which were monitoring her.

"Nice to see you awake, love," Carson said as he walked over to Teyla's side.

Teyla nodded slowly as she looked up at Carson.

"How are you feeling?"

"Very tired," she said softly, "but all right."

"Good to hear, you gave us quite a scare there for a moment... or two."

"I apologize," she said with a slight smile. "I do not recall much of what happened but Melena… is she all right?"

Carson sighed. "She's… it's complicated, love. If you're up to it, Doctor Weir will be coming down to speak with you after her briefing."

Teyla looked at Carson, quirking a brow. "Is there something wrong, Doctor Beckett?"

"It's been a long day," he told her.

"I understand," she said, deciding to leave her questions for Doctor Weir.

**Talus' residence – Bethdsha**

Ronon felt more than strange as he walked into Talus and Melena's home. Her honey scent still lingered in parts of the building, causing Ronon to flinch at the thought of her having another life, one without him. "Do you live here alone?" he asked, looking over at Talus.

"Yes, well… I didn't," Talus said, shaking his head. "I had a wife but she was taken in the latest Wraith culling, only a couple of nights ago."

John looked at Ronon, wishing he knew what was going through his head. It discouraged him, knowing that he couldn't read Ronon, especially when he wasn't visibly angry. The blank expression on his face disturbed John. He wished Ronon were visibly angry, the calm composure made the man scarier even if John knew better.

"I'm sorry," Ronon said coldly, as he continued to move around the living area of the house.

"Thank you," Talus said. "I just pray to the Ancestors every day that she did not suffer. I see no way of how she could have survived," Talus told him. "She was a lovely woman," Talus said with a hint of a smile, remembering her. "Very stubborn, but also very strong, I loved her dearly."

John placed his hand on Ronon's shoulder. He knew why Ronon had wanted to come here, but now that they were there, he wasn't sure he could let Ronon do what he wanted to. Ronon shrugged John's hand away.

"She was one of the best things to ever happen to me," Talus said.

Ronon growled lowly.

"Ronon," John warned.

Ronon looked at John, shaking his head before looking back to Talus. He placed his hand against his pistol, switching the setting from stun to kill. Wrapping his hand around the gun, he inclined his head. In one swift motion, Ronon pulled his gun from the holster and leveled it with Talus, a roguish grin on his face.

Talus' eyes widened, looking at the man. "What's going on?"

"Ronon," John warned again.

"No, Sheppard, this is something I have to do."

**Conference Room – Atlantis**

"Thank you for coming." Elizabeth touched the sensor on the wall, the conference room door sliding closed. She walked over to the end of the table, taking a seat as she looked at the other people there. "Carson," she addressed first.

"Aye, Doctor Weir?"

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "How is Teyla doing?"

"Much better, she is resting for the moment."

"Good." Elizabeth looked around the room. "We have a lot to address and not a lot of time," she explained. "Carson, it's all yours."

"Aye," he said with a nod. He typed in a few commands onto the laptop in front of him, which caused the screen on the wall behind him to power up. "The majority," he started, "of the Replicators that have been encountered in the past by Stargate Command are composed of modular blocks, which were created using nanotechnology. The Asurans are designed by the same basic principles; however, they're built on a more cellular level, using aggressive nanite technology-"

"We already know all this," Rodney commented dryly.

Carson shot a glare in Rodney's direction, which Rodney returned with a smug smile. "Nanotechnology can be used to help reproduce or to repair damaged tissue, as you all are aware of. In Melena's case, the nanites were implanted on the cellular level, right into the tissue, but they remained dormant until they were activated."

"And we couldn't see them while they remained dormant?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Technically, we should have-"

"Rodney," Elizabeth warned, without even turning to look at him.

Rodney rolled his eyes.

"Aye, we should have been able to pick the nanites in her system and any foreign elements. However, it appears that these nanites may be far more advanced than what we've encountered before, including the nanites that invaded your system, Doctor Weir," Carson explained.

Elizabeth flinched automatically at the thought of happened to her a couple of months ago. It was never a pleasant memory. She regained her composure quickly as she regarded Carson. "Explain."

"The nanites in Melena's system were originally an incredibly small amount, before their activation. It's possible that the Asurans were able to tinker with-"

"We aren't talking just tinkering with the structure of the nanites, we're talking about completely altering their design," Rodney added.

"Aye, they were able to alter the composition of the nanites, specifying certain tasks to be executed, as well as altering the structure in order for them to masquerade as every day cells in her body until activation."

"What about replication?" Elizabeth asked.

"The nanites in her system didn't appear to replicate."

"How do you know that?" Elizabeth asked Carson.

"If the nanites had replicated before the time when we suspect activation occurred, I believe we'd have caught the invasion much earlier than this morning."

"What activated the nanites?" Elizabeth inquired.

"And this is where I come in," Rodney spoke up.

"Us, you mean," Zelenka corrected him.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "The transmitter that I found in Melena's belongings appeared to be an every day radio transmitter," Rodney explained as he lifted the radio up for everyone to see. "The only reason I found the radio even remotely interesting was because we haven't come across many civilizations that are this far advanced. Well," he said, pausing for a second. "Other than the Genii anyway.

"I figured this planet, Be… Buth… whatever-"

"Bethdsha," Zelenka corrected Rodney again.

"Right. So, this place must have technology similar to the Genii and even us, which means they could-"

"The more interesting aspect of the radio _is_ what _was_ inside the radio," Zelenka interrupted, jumping straight to the point.

Rodney glared at Zelenka. "I was getting to that," he muttered. Rodney looked back to the room. "This morning I woke up and noticed a strange light coming from the radio. I opened it and found this-" Rodney reached for the plastic bag, but Zelenka grabbed it before him.

"This," Zelenka lifted the bag, "is what the interesting part is. It's another transmitter and like nothing that we've ever seen before."

Elizabeth inclined her head slightly, looking at the object concealed in the plastic bag. "What is it?" she asked.

"We believe it's what activated the nanites. It was emitting a low frequency energy wave," Rodney explained. "It would've caused them to begin to replicate and thus, start taking control over Melena."

"Is this why she attacked Teyla?" Elizabeth asked.

"We think that even though the Asurans were able to alter the composition of their own nanites, they still were unable to remove the programming that makes them attack the Wraith. Therefore, what Wraith DNA Teyla has would've caused Melena to react," Rodney said.

"Is there any way to rid Melena of the nanites, like you accomplished with me?" Elizabeth asked, looking at Carson.

"I'm working on a solution, but I'm afraid that because of the structure and composition of the nanites, getting the nanites to respond in order to use an electromagnetic pulse is near impossible."

"What about Wraith cell tissue?"

"I'm afraid these are much more sophisticated, and even though they would instinctively attack Wraith DNA, the clusters of nanites may not react enough for the EMP to work properly," Carson said. "We also have to keep in mind, the nanites are attacking her system, sooner or later her body is going to be unable to handle the assault and she'll die…"

"Do we have any solutions?" Elizabeth questioned, obviously frustrated.

Rodney raised his hand. "I have one…"

**Holding Cell – Atlantis**

It was only a matter of time before the pain ran its course and the haunting flashes of memories ceased. Melena released her fingers from her hair and she pushed herself up off of the ground.

A shiver traveled along her spine briefly before she looked around the prison cell, then to the camera. She smirked menacingly before moving to the front of the cell. She reached out slowly toward the barrier. Once she made contact, the electric pulses surged up her arm, causing her to twitch with each shock.

Melena's eyes rolled back in her head and soon, only the whites of her eyes could be seen as she sent her own surge of energy right back into the energy field, causing it to short out. The shock forced her back against the far wall of the cell, hard.

With a groan, she forced herself back up to her feet, moved to the entrance of the holding cell, and used all of her strength to force the chamber open.

The guards ran into the brig, guns aimed on Melena as they screamed at her to stand down. She grinned subtly as she swiftly moved towards them, taking one down quite efficiently with the snap of the neck. She turned to the second guard, inclining her head slightly as he continued to fire his weapon on her, but it had no effect. She chuckled as she advanced on him slowly, then suddenly whipping around him and hooking her arm around his neck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Deus Ex Machina (7/?)

**Date:** 11/17/2006

**Author:** carpenyx

**Rating:** NC-17

**Spoilers:** Up through "The Return: Part 1" of season 3.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own. Just playing in the pegasus galaxy.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 7**

**Talus' Residence – Bethdsha**

John stood still, staring at Ronon. Though he'd had a good idea what he was getting himself into, he wasn't completely prepared for what had happened next. With simplicity, Ronon squeezed the trigger of his pistol. It was quick and precise – the beam of energy hitting his intended target at point blank. John couldn't tear his eyes away from Ronon, the shock immobilizing him temporarily.

Ronon spun the pistol around his finger adeptly before holstering it. He towered over the dead body of the man who had violated his wife. John wondered if he felt any guilt for what he'd just done. It was hard to tell, as Ronon's face remained impassive as he kept his eyes locked on Talus.

"Ronon?" John spoke finally as he took a step towards him.

Ronon glanced at John, saying nothing. He was unreadable as he looked away and stepped over the dead body, his actions indifferent.

A light breeze started to circulate through the residence of its quite dead inhabitant, causing Ronon's jaw to tighten. The lingering scent of _her_ assaulted his senses and for a brief moment a pang of guilt surged through him. It wasn't because of what he'd done, but for wasting precious moments on someone inferior. He wanted to be with her, not here.

"I wasn't expecting-" John began, but was quickly interrupted by the other man.

"I did what I had to," he said flatly. Ronon walked to the door, glancing around him once more. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of life she'd had, a life without him. Though she bared herself to the night before, there had been moments when she'd found happiness and comfort here, before all the pain.

Ronon reached for the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. He looked over at John. "Coming?"

John shook his head as he looked down at Talus. "Yeah," he said quietly.

"We should get moving," Ronon suggested gruffly. He knew it wouldn't be long before Talus' men came looking for him. Neither one of them would be safe here for much longer.

**Conference Room – Atlantis**

"Do we have any solutions?" Elizabeth questioned, clearly frustrated.

Rodney raised his hand. "I have one…"

"Please," she said as she gestured for him to continue. She felt a tinge of hope knowing that Rodney had an idea.

"We don't know if the idea will work," Zelenka admitted. He looked from Elizabeth to Rodney, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"But there's a very good possibility that it _could_ work," Rodney added stubbornly.

"Do we have any other options we can consider?" she asked as she looked between her two top scientists.

"No," Rodney said regrettably.

"There is a small percentage of it actually working," Zelenka paused, hesitant.

Elizabeth looked at Zelenka expectedly. "Go on," she pressed.

He sighed heavily. "It could end up killing her," he explained.

**Forest – Bethdsha**

"Why didn't you tell me what you were planning?" John asked as both men made their way through the forest in the direction of the Stargate. They remained off the main path, avoiding any unwanted encounters.

"Would you have agreed?" Ronon questioned, looking sideways at Sheppard.

"Well, probably not," he answered with a shrug.

"That's why," Ronon said flatly.

"If we're lucky we'll get out of here without a scratch," John commented as they continued making their way through the dense foliage.

Ronon perked his head slightly, looking back and forth. "You jinxed us," he said ironically.

"Huh?" John looked at Ronon questioningly.

He shot Sheppard a glare to keep quiet. Ronon squatted, positioning his pistol. "We've got company," he said after a long pause.

**Stargate – Bethdsha**

He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel some sort of thrill from stepping through the Stargate, even on the life or death missions. Major Lorne walked down the steps, leading away from the Gate, followed closely by his team.

"We're going to make this quick as possible; we find them and get out." Lorne headed towards the DHD, surveying the area. He estimated they had about a five to ten minute walk to the tree line. Adjusting his P-90, he shook his head and wondered if this would be as easy as he'd hoped.

Major Lorne tapped his radio. "Colonel Sheppard, do you read?" Lorne received nothing but static, the Colonel either was out of range or incapacitated. He shook his head, frustrated.

"Nothing, sir?" One of Lorne's team members asked.

Lorne shook his head. "Richards," Lorne addressed his fellow team member.

"Yes, sir?" Richards answered as he came up beside Major Lorne.

"You're on Gate duty," he explained. "Keep an eye out; let us know if you see anything or anyone."

"Yes, sir," Richards said as he took his position by the DHD.

"Samuels, Smith, you're with me," Lorne said as he started heading out.

It wasn't long until they reached the tree line, ten minutes at the most. There was no indication of inhabitants on the planet or the presence of Colonel Sheppard and Ronon – the latter part was discouraging.

"Sir," Samuels said, addressing the Major as he looked down at the life signs detector in his hand.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Life signs," he explained.

"How many?" Lorne asked, lowering his voice as he peered through the surrounding trees cautiously.

"Two, coming in this direction – the Colonel and Ronon, maybe?" he suggested. "They're about two clicks from here," Samuels told him, though he seemed hesitant to continue. His eyes locked on the life signs detector.

"But…" Lorne prompted.

"There's about a dozen or more life signs showing up, not that far behind them."

Lorne looked over his shoulder at Samuels. "Not liking those odds."

**Conference Room – Atlantis**

"This is your solution?" Carson questioned as he rose from the table. He looked between Rodney and Doctor Zelenka. "It could kill her…?" He understood what was at stake, but it didn't change that Carson was uncomfortable with the risk they would be taking.

"You said it yourself, she's going to die if we don't do anything," Rodney pointed out as he addressed Carson.

"This might be our only chance of saving Atlantis against what the Asurans have planned, as well as saving her," Zelenka explained.

Carson shook his head, dejectedly.

"Before we debate whether or not to proceed, it might be best if you explain what the plan is first, Rodney." She wanted to head off any impending argument that was sure to transpire at any moment.

"When we were in Asura, I was able to successfully reprogram Niam, in order to eliminate his aggressive nature by rewriting the base code," Rodney explained.

"I remember." Elizabeth nodded.

"Well, the idea is similar," he told her. "To what degree, we aren't sure, but she is linked to this device," he said as he indicated to the transmitter. "Which means there is some sort of subspace networking between this and Melena."

"I thought you deactivated the device?" Elizabeth asked, regarding Rodney.

"I did," he replied as a matter-of-factly. "It's a matter of reactivating it."

"And you can do that?" she questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he responded, slightly unsure of himself.

"Are you certain?" Elizabeth questioned. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. If he was right, this could provide for an efficient solution to their problem.

"Well, no, we can't be certain that it'll work." Rodney shrugged his shoulders. "But, if we can overwrite the nature of her programming, we would turn this around. Not to mention, if we can mimic the programming, we might be able to transmit something back to them, something along the lines of a virus," it was hard to miss the almost excited tone of Rodney's voice. "We might be able to make the nanites do what we want, such as attacking Wraith tissue which would let us use the EMP to destroy them or at least shut them down."

"But there's a hitch," Zelenka added. "The nanites could easily retaliate and kill her anyway."

"If their mission isn't to kill her, but to carry out certain tasks, why would they turn on her suddenly?" Elizabeth questioned.

"It's kind of the same principle of us activating the self destruct rather than falling into the enemy hands - they would react by killing her." Zelenka explained.

"What's the likelihood of that happening?" Elizabeth questioned.

"I don't even know if it's possible yet," Rodney admitted.

"We've only played with the idea. It's going to take several days before we can come up with anything solid and worth attempting," Zelenka told her.

"Time isn't on our side; we need to do as quickly as possible. How much time will you both need?"

"Ideally, a couple of months," Rodney snorted.

"We don't have that luxury, Rodney," Elizabeth told him sternly.

"We can try to have something ready within a day," Zelenka half-said, half-asked.

Rodney glared at Zelenka.

"Ok, let's get to work-" Elizabeth was interrupted by the sounds of commotion outside the conference room.

"_Doctor Weir, we have a situation_," one of the technicians said over her earpiece.

**Atlantis**

It would only be a matter of time before more marines were alerted of the prisoner's escape. In haste, Melena stripped the weapons from both of the dead guards. She strapped one of the guns over her shoulder and held the other, her finger delicately poised over the trigger.

Melena quickly ducked out of the chamber, leaving both of the marines' bodies sprawled out in the middle of the cell, directly in view of the security cameras.

Though she met no resistance as she ran down the first long corridor, she rounded the corner only to be met by two armed marines.

The marines quickly trained their funs on the escapee, barking an order at her, telling her to stand down. She came to a sudden halt, inclining her head. She looked at them inquiringly, a smirk on her face. Both marines continued shouting at her to disarm.

"Very pleasant people," she muttered as she took a step forward casually. The marines instinctively opened fire on her, but it had no effect. A grin slowly appeared on her features before she returned the gesture – downing the marines swiftly with her own gunfire.

She made no effort to make sure they were debilitated as she stepped over both of the bodies and continued down the corridors that lead to the center of the city.

**Forest – Bethdsha**

Major Lorne lowered his weapon, positioning it at his side. He tapped his radio, "Colonel Sheppard, do you read?"

Static.

"Colonel Sheppard?" he asked again.

"_Major Lorne_?" came the surprised and labored voice of Colonel Sheppard over the radio.

With a sigh of relief, Lorne said, "Good to hear your voice, Colonel."

"_Tell me about it! We're running hot; can you get to the jumper?_"

"It's cloaked," he radioed back.

"_I got it covered_," Sheppard told him and second later the jumper appeared only a couple of meters from where Lorne and his team were positioned.

"Who'd you piss of this time?" Lorne said into the radio sarcastically after ordering Samuels to power up the jumper.

"_You really don't wanna know, Major. You get your men out of here. We'll be right behind you._"

"We'll be here for backup, just make your way to Stargate, Colonel."

"Richards, dial Atlantis and tell them we're coming home. We're about ten minutes from the Gate," Lorne said over the radio to his team member stationed at the Stargate.

---

Lorne and his team boarded the jumper. Samuels, piloting the jumper, turned it about and lifted it up from the ground. He positioned it in the direction Colonel Sheppard and Ronon were coming from. As soon as they appeared, running out of the forest – they made their way straight for the Stargate.

It wasn't long before a group of men came running out of the tree lines, firing their weapons upon the Colonel and the jumper. Samuels fired up the weaponry of the jumper, sending a droid at the front line as a warning shot. The force of the blast sent some of the men reeling back as the weapon exploded into the ground.

As soon as Colonel Sheppard and Ronon reached the Stargate, they radioed Major Lorne and his team. Both men cleared through the event horizon, followed by the jumper.

**Doctor Weir's Office – Atlantis**

"What's going on?" Elizabeth questioned, walking out of the conference room.

"You better come see this," he suggested. She followed the technician into the control room.

McKay, Zelenka, and Carson followed her out into the control room.

"A few moments ago, all of the systems started going haywire," he explained, gesturing to the monitors that were displaying erratic codes. "Looks like we've been hit with a virus."

Rodney cocked his eyebrow. "It _is_ a virus," he confirmed.

Elizabeth felt her stomach knot anxiously.

"We got this video feed moments before everything went crazy," he told her as he turned the monitor around. A video came up on the screen, displaying the incident with Melena's escape and the death of at least two of Atlantis' marines.

Carson sighed, shaking his head.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, disgusted. "Turn it off," she said quietly. "Get the marines stationed at all exits and entryways of the Gate room and control room."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

"Damn," Elizabeth cursed under her breath. She walked over to the overhang, looking out over the Gate Room. She couldn't even begin to fathom how they were going to deal with Melena's escape. Elizabeth's attention was brought to the Stargate as it began powering up.

"Doctor Weir," a technician called out.

"Yes?" she replied immediately, keeping her eyes locked on the dialing gate as the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach grew.

"I can't confirm anything, we're locked out of the system," the technician informed her.

She sighed, closing her eyes. "Is the shield operational?" Elizabeth asked as the event horizon sprung forth.

"No, ma'am."

A group of marines surrounded the Stargate, their weapons trained on the wormhole.

A small wave of relief washed over Elizabeth as Lieutenant Richards, followed by Colonel Sheppard and Ronon stepped through the Stargate. As soon as the puddle jumper cleared the wormhole, the event horizon shut down. Her relief was quickly replaced by fear, as the Gate started dialing up again on its own accord, not even a second after shutting down.

"What's going on?" she questioned, looking from the Gate to the technician.

"I don't know," the technician said as he and Doctor McKay attempted to get some sort of information from the computer systems, but it was futile.

**Gate Room – Atlantis**

Within moments of the Stargate activating, Melena ran into the Gate room with her weapon raised and aimed in front of her. She halted suddenly in the center of the Gate Room, coming face-to-face with Ronon and Colonel Sheppard.

"Mel?" Ronon questioned, a look of confusion on his face.

"Stand down!" Elizabeth ordered. She was standing at the top of the staircase, looking down at Melena.

Melena whipped her head around, grinning slowly.

"What's going on?" John asked, looking from Elizabeth to Melena and then back again.

"Ronon," Melena said as she moved towards him. "Ronon…" she whispered, dropping the gun to the ground and wrapping her arms around his waist.

Ronon slipped one arm around Melena protectively, looking at Doctor Weir, his face a mixture of puzzlement and anger that threatened to come to the surface.

"Ronon," Elizabeth warned as she descended. "Back away from her, she's-"

"Ronon, please…" Melena murmured softly, slowly maneuvering them towards the event horizon, subtly. "They don't trust me… they want to hurt _us_."

"Ok, I'm sure we can work this out-" John said, not having a clue as to what the hell was going on.

Melena wasted no more time as she used all of her abnormal and surprising strength to fling herself and Ronon through the event horizon.

"No!" Elizabeth shouted as Sheppard whipped around, attempting to stop what was happening, but it was too late. Both Ronon and Melena had made it through the Gate before it shut down.


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: **Deus Ex Machina (8/10) 

**Date: **12/22/2006

**Author: **carpenyx

**Rating: **NC-17

**Warnings: **Sexual Content, Character Death

**Characters: **Ronon Dex centric w/the rest of the SGA main characters

**Spoilers: **Up through "Sateda" and "Progeny", alternate universe – set later in the third season.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own. Just playing in the Pegasus Galaxy. No copyright infringement intended.

**Summary: **He remembered her; the smell of her perfume, the sweet honey taste of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his. It was almost as if she were still there.

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 8**

**Atlantis**

**The Following Day**

It had been a long night with nothing that even resembled sleep. John tiredly made his way down the corridor, heading to a meeting with Elizabeth. In his mind he replayed the discussion he'd had with her earlier – they had both argued their points into the ground with no finite resolution in sight.

It was decided that she wouldn't make her decision regarding his insubordinate behavior yet, given their current dilemma with Melena and the Asurans. However, she would most certainly revisit it once this ordeal was behind them. John remained disheartened.

When he looked up, he caught sight of the Athosian beauty walking briskly ahead of him. He called after her. "Teyla!"

She offered a small smile and waited for him to catch up. "Colonel Sheppard."

"You're looking good," he commented, trying to act as though everything would be okay. The familiar banter was not lost on Teyla, she grinned slightly in response but left her sarcastic retort for another day. Neither one felt much like themselves in light of Ronon's departure. "I didn't think Beckett would release you so soon," he said as he looked at her with a hint of worry on his face.

"He was very difficult to persuade, but I was able to make a compromise with him," she explained. "I am still not cleared for off world duty."

"Sounds about right," he replied with a nod.

"Have you heard any news of Ronon?" Teyla ventured as she looked at John expectantly.

"None," he said, discouraged.

**Conference Room – Atlantis**

The meeting had commenced on schedule once everyone had gathered.

The virus in their computer systems was the most pressing matter, and therefore was discussed first. McKay explained the computers would be back to normal within a couple of hours. Both he and Doctor Zelenka had been able to eradicate the virus, preventing it from damaging any more of their computers, and they'd already begun fixing the damage it had caused.

Elizabeth displayed her concern regarding the Asurans, and Rodney was quick to point out that Melena's failure to complete her mission would put a damper in what they had planned. He explained she had been attempting to rewrite their systems in order to shut down Atlantis and take control of the city, but in the wake of her failure that was no longer possible.

It relieved Elizabeth to hear this, though she was far from feeling confident that this was all behind them. Another concern, one that had not yet been addressed, was in regards to the simulations Doctor McKay and Doctor Zelenka were working on.

"I understand that you and Zelenka have made some headway with the simulations?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Yes," Rodney confirmed. "The tests we've run so far haven't succeeded, but I'm very confident that we've figured out what the problem is. Zelenka's working on fixing it right now."

"That's good to hear," she said, relief evident in her voice. "Thank you, Rodney."

"We need to address the situation with Ronon," Elizabeth said looking over at John and Teyla.

"We go get him," John said simply.

"We don't know where he is, John," she explained, a hint of anger in her voice. "I've sent several teams, used a great deal of resources that we really don't have, just to search for them. We've tried several possible plants, including Bethdsha. We aren't coming up with anything and I'm not sure what else we could-"

"I'm not giving up," John interrupted, looking directly at Elizabeth. He wasn't about to let this one go, not now and not after everything him and his team had been through – Ronon was a member of his family, he wouldn't abandon him.

"I'm not saying that, John." Elizabeth inclined her head slightly and looked at John. "I'm just saying that I'm not sure what else we can do."

"The computer, didn't it log the address?" he questioned.

"Yeah, about that," Rodney said. He looked at John. "She screwed up the computers, it was offline."

"You said that she was acting strangely during her time in the holding cell, correct?" Teyla interrupted the group as she looked over at Elizabeth.

"Doctor Heightmeyer and I looked over the video feeds," Beckett responded.

"And what did you discover?" Teyla questioned.

"We both feel that she was suffering from something very similar to a disorder of multiple personalities."

"I do not understand," Teyla said, tilting her head as she looked at Beckett.

"It's kind of like two people inhabiting one body, love," he explained. "As the replicators began taking over her body, she fought against them – both her and the programming were trying to coexist in the same space."

"Which might explain why she was unable to carry out her mission," Rodney suggested. "And why she ran…"

"So, during this time in the holding cell and when she escaped, she would have been going back and forth between the two?"

"Perhaps," Beckett commented.

Both John and Elizabeth looked at Teyla. John wondered where she was going with this.

"If that is true, then we might know where she went."

"How?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, _how_?" John chimed in.

"If you were scared, confused and did not know what was happening – would you not wish to be somewhere familiar and safe?".

"I'm so not following," he admitted with a shrug.

Rodney grinned knowingly.

"Home," Teyla stated boldly.

**Sateda**

It was almost dark and the minimal light was emanating from several carefully placed candles. Ronon opened his eyes slowly, his vision adjusting to the dim setting. "Melena?" he called out, his voice cracking. His throat was dry and the air tasted stale. Taking in his surrounding a bit more, he realized he was lying in a bed. "Mel?" he called out again, looking around the room.

The dark haired beauty glanced over her shoulder, letting her hand fall from the curtain she was holding open. "Ronon," she said with a soft smile.

"Where…" he muttered. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't. He felt incredibly weak, his own body fighting against him. Fear was not far behind as panic settled in. Ronon attempted to move, his breathing becoming labored.

"Shh," she whispered as she walked over to the bedside. Melena knelt down beside him, her hand resting on his arm. "You've been through a lot," she explained when she noticed him struggling to move. "You'll be all right," she assured him.

Ronon tilted his head, looking at her. The sight of her face calmed him slightly as he reached out, resting the palm of his hand against her cheek.

Melena smiled, placing her hand over his.

Ronon pulled his hand away - hers felt eerily cold. None of this seemed right, he felt the strangest sense of familiarity from this place, and yet he couldn't place it.

"Where are we?" he asked finally.

"Don't you know?" she tilting her head slightly. Melena cocked an eyebrow.

"I… I don't know?" he questioned. Ronon looked around, taking in everything – the layout, the furniture, the… smell – it started to come back to him.

"We're home," she told him.

He snapped his head around to look at her. _Home_.

"Ronon?"

She was right. It was… is their home. Ronon shook his head, trying to clear the fogginess he felt as he scanned his surroundings again. It felt strange, different even. It was familiar, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was out of place.

"Ronon?" she questioned again.

"Sorry," he muttered.

She smiled as she leaned forward, placing a soft kiss against his cheek. "I love you, Ronon."

He offered her a small smile. "I love you too," he said quietly.

**Doctor Weir's Office – Atlantis**

"I am only giving you so long to get in, find Ronon, and get out," Elizabeth explained to John. "I want you to take Major Lorne and his team with you."

"What about Teyla?"

"Carson hasn't cleared her for duty yet. I think it's best that she stays here."

"I could really use her," he pushed.

"I understand, but it's not my call, John."

John shook his head, folding his arms. He understood what Teyla had been through while he and Ronon were off in Bethdsha, he partly blamed himself for not being there to stop it, but he still wanted her with him on this mission.

"Elizabeth!" McKay shouted as he stormed into her office, unannounced. He was followed closely by Zelenka.

John cocked a brow when Rodney came in.

In unison, both scientists declared, "We've got it!"

Rodney shot Zelenka a glare.

"We think we've got it," Zelenka continued. "We can't be certain without more time, but in all the simulations we ran – it looks promising."

"Great," she said. It was evident by the expression on her face that she was relieved to know that there was even the smallest chance of this whole mess turning in their favor. "What do you need to make this work?"

"We need to be in close proximity to her in order to transmit the virus," Rodney explained.

"Not a problem. You get to come along for the ride, McKay." John grinned.

"Oh, well, I… uh..."

"Sounds about right," Elizabeth agreed.

"Perfect," Rodney muttered sarcastically under his breath.

"This might be a stupid question," John said, looking at Elizabeth. "But wasn't the Gate blocked in Sateda?"

"Funny you should mention that." Rodney grinned. "It seems that when Melena was fiddling around here, she managed to enable the Satedan Gate again."

"Oh," John said.

"Just one more thing," Zelenka said. "We're going to need Teyla's help."

"That's what I was saying," John said.

"She hasn't been cleared for duty," Elizabeth informed him.

"I realize that, but she may be our only way of getting close to Melena," Rodney explained.

"You want to use Teyla as _bait_?" he looked at Rodney. It was never good when McKay wanted to use one as bait and the plan made John reluctant to let her come along.

"I wouldn't exactly say 'bait'," he pointed out. "But yeah, pretty much."

Sheppard narrowed his eyes, glaring at Rodney.

**Sateda**

When Ronon woke again, he was unaware of how much time had passed. He looked to his right; the love of his life was lying on the bed, curled up against his side.

"Mel?" he whispered softly into her ear.

Melena stirred from her slumber, her eyes fluttering open as she looked at him. A smile crossed her features. "Yes, Ronon?" she said quietly.

The peculiar feeling in the pit of his stomach churned. "Never mind," he said with a shake of his head.

"What is it?" she questioned as she snuggled closer to him.

"Doesn't this seem strange," he admitted. Ronon looked at Melena questioningly.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, meeting his eyes.

"This doesn't feel right."

Melena narrowed her eyes and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She looked down at Ronon. "What are you talking about?"

"This," he said gruffly. "This place… us."

"Us?" she hissed.

Ronon sat up and looked at Melena. "I didn't mean…" He shook his head, unsure of what he meant.

"We're together, what more do you want? I thought you wanted this."

"I do, but it doesn't feel… real-"

The sound of his screams broke the silence of the abandoned ruins of what used to be their home. Melena fought to keep control, her hand probing his mind. It was a fight she was beginning to lose – he had started questioning the world she'd created for him.

Ronon let out another chilling scream as Melena's hand was ripped from his forehead – he collapsed on the ground in a heap and she stumbled backwards.

"You had to fight it," she hissed angrily as she regained her composure. She moved back over to him, taking handful of his hair. She yanked his head up forcefully, looking down at him. "Pathetic," she spat.

Ronon closed his eyes, his teeth grating. A stray tear rolled down his cheek as he tried to calm the emotional pain surging through him. "Mel…" he choked out. He couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening – what happened to her?

"She's dead." Melena growled as she slammed his head against the ground, repeatedly before finally releasing her grip.

**Gate Room - Atlantis**

"Lorne." John walked up to the Major who was standing at the bottom of the staircase in the Gate Room.

"Colonel."

"You were briefed?" John asked.

"Just a few minutes ago," he confirmed.

"If there's a chance to take her out, don't hesitate," John explained to the other man. John wasn't about to let her back into Atlantis if she could still be a threat, regardless of what Ronon said, or if McKay's plan worked.

"I was under the impression McKay would be dealing with her, sir?"

"I don't want to take any chances if his plan doesn't work," John responded.

Lorne nodded slowly. "Understood."

"John?" Teyla walked up to him. He was agitated; his continuous pacing gave it away.

"Hey," he said with a slight smile.

Teyla tilted her head slightly and looked at John. "John…" she said, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"We will find him," she reassured.

John took a deep breath as he looked at Teyla. She always knew what to say, even if it was in the simplest of words – it was how she said it, with such confidence and determination. "Thanks."

Teyla smiled warmly.

"You all set?" Elizabeth asked, walking down the steps alongside Rodney.

"Ready as I'll ever be," John answered with a shrug.

"I'm not," Rodney muttered to himself.

"Be careful," Elizabeth advised them.

"Always." John smirked.


	9. Chapter 9

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 9**

**Sateda – Complex Ruins**

"_I'm Melena." She reached her small hand out to him._

"_Melena," he repeated softly. He took her hand gently into his._

Broken memories flashed in his mind while he kept his eyes tightly shut.

Ronon was plagued with conflicting emotions: rage, fear, and sorrow, not to mention confusion and doubt of them combined together threatened to consume him wholly. Every muscle in his body was taut, his teeth were clenched and his hands were balled up in fists within their bindings.

The once familiar scent of his wife was lost to him. The sound of her voice was strange and the woman towering over him was no longer the woman he knew.

Melena crouched low in front of him, her hand reaching up and lifting Ronon's chin. "Open your eyes."

He did not move.

"Look at me," she spat out angrily.

Ronon jerked his head away from her, eyes slowly opening.

"Don't be like that." Melena spoke softly and frowned a little.

He grunted, yanking on his restraints.

"I didn't want to involve you, but what choice did I have?"

Ronon narrowed his eyes, working harder on the restraints. She merely watched.

"I had to get through the Ring." She continued to explain, her eyes trained on Ronon as he attempted to release himself from the bindings. It was futile, she knew, but he went on trying and she kept on watching. "I knew they wouldn't have opened fire on you…"

"They should've," he muttered.

"You wouldn't have allowed it." Melena reached out again, her hand resting against his cheek. "Even if you knew what I was…"

That's when his eyes finally met hers.

She caressed his cheek. "Even now, you can't bring yourself to hurt me… can you?"

Ronon narrowed his eyes, lurching towards her and growling low. She was quick and backed away before he could make contact. There wasn't much else he could do; the restraints were sturdy.

"If you really wanted to harm me, you would have already," she stated.

Ronon looked at her, his eyes laced with regret and sorrow – he was losing his wife for a second time and there was nothing he could do about it. "If you only needed me so that you could get off Atlantis, why keep me captive?" He clenched his teeth, pulling on the ropes around his wrists – he wasn't giving up.

Melena didn't answer as she kept her eyes focused on him.

"What?" he hissed. "Programming fucked up?"

"No," she said quickly. Melena rose to her full height. "How-"

"Not the first time I've had a hand squirming around up there."

She started to pace back and forth, agitated.

"Cat got your tongue?" he taunted.

Melena cursed under her breath, shooting a glare at Ronon.

Ronon smirked slightly.

"I'm the first." She knelt down in front of Ronon again.

Ronon stopped his attempts to free himself… for the moment.

"She's the first…" Melena shook her head. "We can build cities, ships and even others like us. We can infect other species, but never have we completely changed an organism of another species into an Asuran. Until now that is." A wicked grin spread across her face.

"Why?" he growled.

"Why your wife?" Melena's smile softened – it made him uneasy. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was running from the Wraith and dialed Asura at random. We probed her mind and recognized you, that's when we came up with the perfect plan. We had the opportunity to infiltrate Atlantis and we took it. It's nothing personal."

Ronon lowered his head.

"Unfortunately our perfect plan wasn't quite as perfect as we'd originally perceived it to be. Doctor McKay is a little too smart for his own good…"

"Let me go…" Ronon spoke low and gruffly.

"I can't do that, Ronon. I'm sorry."

Ronon's eyes met Melena's. In that moment, he suddenly realized his wife might not be lost to him. "If she's still in there…"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing left of your wife." She had spoken clearly, but he caught the hint of doubting in her tone – one he'd heard his wife use in the past…

**Sateda – Stargate**

"I really think this isn't such a good idea," Rodney muttered. He followed Sheppard and the others away from the Stargate.

"McKay." Sheppard shot him a glare. "Can we save the whining for another day?" He may have been a little too harsh with Rodney, but his focus was on finding Ronon – it'd been over twenty-four hours and they weren't certain if he was on Sateda… or if he was even alive.

McKay sighed. He shifted his pack higher up on his shoulders. The life signs detector was in his hand and the Asuran transmitter had been strapped on his vest.

"Richards and Samuels; Gate duty," Lorne ordered his men before looking over at John.

"Teyla, you're with me," John said.

She nodded.

"Lorne, take up the rear with McKay. Let's move out."

"We've been walking for like-"

"Ten minutes, McKay." Lorne informed him.

"Oh right." Rodney wiped the sweat from his brow as he glanced down at the life signs detector. "I'm still not picking up any other life forms."

"It's a big planet," Lorne commented.

"You don't expect to search the whole planet…"

"If we have to," John said immediately from a few meters ahead.

McKay looked up from the life signs detector, towards John. "Great," he muttered under his breath.

Lorne rolled his eyes, wondering how and why he always ended up with Doctor McKay.

"Oh… oh! I got something…" Rodney halted, looking down at the device in his hand.

Both John and Teyla stopped, turning to look at Rodney.

"Damnit…" Rodney hit the side of the detector. "It was working but-"

"Rodney…" John looked at him, irritated.

"I think the battery died?" Rodney half-stated, half-asked as he looked at John.

"McKay," he said through clenched teeth.

"What? It was working and now it's not." Rodney shook it. "Broken, dead… whatever – it just shut off."

"Shit," John said, followed by more curses as he kicked the dirt on the ground with his boot.

**Complex Ruins**

Silence loomed; no words had passed between them in the last couple of hours. Ronon had his back against the wall with his hands tied behind him and his legs stretched out in front of him, his ankles were bound together as well. He'd occasionally watch her as she paced. She was quite restless in her movements.

"Melena…?" he finally broke the silence.

She came to a sudden stop, whipping her head around and looked at him.

"I want to talk to her…" he said quietly.

"I told you-"

"I don't believe you." His voice resonated his plea in its hushed tone.

"If she were still in this body, why would I allow her to speak to you?"

"I think if she were gone… you wouldn't bother with me."

He caught it – that subtle twitch on her face that indicated to him that he might be onto something.

"Information…" she said.

"You already tried and failed," he pointed out firmly.

"Is that so?" She advanced towards him, swiftly grabbing a handful of his dreadlocks and yanking his head back roughly.

He grunted, clenching his teeth.

"Care to go for another round?"

"Melena…" he pleaded.

Melena hissed, pulling harder.

"Melena."

Her grip tightened and he said her name again, just above a whisper – his eyes locked onto hers.

Melena closed her eyes, her fingers slowly releasing him. She lowered herself onto the ground beside him, not saying a word.

Ronon watched her as moments passed. He was beginning to doubt if his wife was still inside of her.

"I'm dying," she finally spoke as she lifted her head and looked at him.

**Sateda – Edge of the City**

"Colonel." Teyla stepped towards John.

He sighed, shaking his head.

"Colonel…" Teyla gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "We will find him."

"How?" John looked at Teyla, defeat creeping into his eyes.

"We will start where we found him last time, then go from there…"

"It's a big planet."

"If we have to, we will search the whole planet," she said, using his own words to assure him.

John chuckled very lightly as he looked at Teyla.

She smiled slowly.

"Uh, guys?" Rodney interjected.

"Not now, McKay."

"_Colonel_."

John looked over at McKay. "_What_?"

Rodney looked up towards the sky and pointed.

John followed Rodney's line of sight, as did Teyla and Lorne.

Not much could be seen above due to the cloud cover, but it was what was coming out of the clouds that caught their attention. A familiar shape broke through the dense clouds, hovering over what appeared to be the center of the city…

"That's not ours," John pointed out as the puddle jumper continued to descend.

**Complex Ruins**

"It's too much," Melena whispered. "I can feel everything shutting down…"

Ronon watched, not once taking his eyes off of her.

"I don't have a lot of time." Melena pushed her back up against the wall, next to Ronon. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

It had taken a long time for him to loosen the rope around his wrists, but while she had her guard lowered he was able to release himself from the bindings.

It was swift and she didn't know what had hit her until he had her pinned against the wall – his hand was wrapped around her neck. Melena gasped for a breath, her chest heaving.

"You were wrong about one thing," Ronon growled.

Melena brought her hands up, grabbing onto his wrists. To her surprise, she was a lot weaker than she had previously thought. She struggled against him, but found herself unable to fight him off.

"I can hurt you." The malicious words filled with pain fell from his lips. He looked into her eyes, his own laced with anguish for what he was about to do. Ronon pulled her away from the wall, bringing her into his arms. He whipped her around, her back against his front and he positioned his arm around her neck.

"Ronon, please!" she managed to whisper.

**Sateda – Outer Complex Ruins**

"What do you mean it's not one of ours?" Rodney questioned.

"I mean it's _not_ one of ours."

"Colonel?" Teyla looked at John, raising a brow.

"It's one of theirs…"

"Whose?" McKay looked at John, confused.

"The Asuran." John pointed out.

"What!" McKay swallowed, hard. "Oh god, we're all going to die. I told you this was a _bad_ idea…"

Teyla and Lorne exchanged a concerned glance before looking at the Colonel.

"I'm guessing they are here for her…"

"But that's impossible," Rodney said. "There's no way they could find her without the transmitter…" He looked down at the transmitter strapped on his vest – the red light was blinking. "Shit."

John looked at Rodney. "What do you mean 'shit'?"

"As in, we're in big trouble?"

"Rodney."

"I must've hit it and turned it on…" Rodney quickly removed the device from his vest. "… completely by accident!" he added.

"I thought you deactivated it?" John questioned him.

"I did!" Rodney hurried to switch off the transmitter. "But in order to transmit the virus it has to be activated. It was only going to be on for a couple of minutes and that wouldn't have been enough time to track the signal."

"Okay…" John took a deep breath as he scanned the immediate area. "In there," he said as he gestured to an abandoned storehouse.

There was no visible doorway with the exception of a shattered window. It took them very little time to climb into the old storehouse, seeking cover.

Once inside, John began to pace. "I have to think…"

"What are we going to do?" Teyla looked at him.

"Thinking…"

"Sir." Lorne looked at Sheppard. There wasn't a lot of time for thinking.

"As long as they didn't see us, we can use them to our advantage."

"How do you mean?"

"They can lead us to Ronon and Melena…"

"How?" Teyla looked over at John.

"They should be able to sense her nearby. Technically, the transmitter only serves for broader distances," Rodney explained.

John looked over at Lorne. "I need you to scout out that puddle jumper. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

"I've got two in visual range," Sheppard radioed Lorne.

"_The jumper is clear, there's no others,_" he radioed back.

"Colonel, they are heading into an abandoned complex…" Teyla positioned her weapon against her shoulder.

"Uh, Sheppard?" Rodney looked at John.

"What now, McKay?"

"If you use the pistol on them… it won't work against Melena – they adapt and she'll be immune."

"Well, your plan better work."

"No pressure," Rodney muttered.

**Complex Ruins**

"Ronon, please!" she pleaded through gasps of breath as she squirmed against him.

Ronon shut his eyes tightly, trying to drown out the sound of her voice…

"_Ronon, please stop!" Melena giggled as she squirmed underneath him. "I hate being tickled!" She pleaded with him as their eyes met and he smiled down at her._

"_Only if you let me have one kiss," he said playfully in his gruff voice._

"_I'll let you have as many as you want." She smiled brightly as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, their lips meeting in a deep and loving kiss._

Ronon clung onto Melena as he released his arm from around her neck. He could feel her heaving again him as air rushed back into her lungs – her body collapsed against his.

"Please forgive me…" he whispered softly as he lowered both of them to the ground.

Ronon turned Melena to face him, bringing her closer as he cradled her.

She looked up at Ronon, reaching her hand to touch his face.

In that moment it was unclear who was lying in his arms – Melena or the machine.

**Outer Complex Ruins**

Lorne hurried back to the group after declaring that the puddle jumper was unoccupied. Only two Asurans had come to collect their wayward project; that seemed like good odds.

John nodded to Lorne as he rejoined the group. "We don't have a lot of time. We need to stop them before they get to Ronon and Melena." It was coming down to the wire and it was a matter of taking out the two Asurans without drawing attention to themselves.

John looked over towards Teyla. "You up for this?" Concern was etched on his face and he wasn't too keen on the idea of using her as bait, but there was no other way.

"I am ready," she confirmed.

"It's all you," he told her as he and Lorne positioned themselves behind a large concrete barrier along with McKay. The Asurans were a few meters away from the entrance of the abandoned complex. John had the pistol trained on the Asurans' position and Lorne followed suit.

Teyla cautiously moved out from behind the wall and made her way towards the complex. It would only be a couple of seconds before the Asurans' programming kicked in and sensed the Wraith DNA in Teyla's system.

John was already regretting this plan.

She kept her cool as she edged closer and put her trust in her teammates.

John tensed, his finger held over the trigger firmly.

The Asurans stopped mid-step, both turning their heads, suddenly alerted of Teyla's presence.

Teyla halted, her muscles becoming rigid. She kept her eyes on the two machines in front of her.

The Asurans and Teyla remained in a locked stare, neither knowing who would make the first move. John's finger squeezed the trigger of the pistol slightly – not enough to set it off, but it was obvious he was becoming more and more anxious.

"Come on," she whispered to herself as she stared at the two Asurans.

It happened quickly - a little too quickly as both of the Asurans lunged towards the Athosian. One of them whipped her around, gripping his hands tightly around her forearms. The other circled both of them, eyeing the Athosian inquiringly.

**Complex Ruins**

"They're coming," she said quietly as she lay in Ronon's arms.

Ronon held her close, stroking her dark brown hair. It didn't seem to matter any longer who was lying in his arms. All he saw when he looked at her was his wife – his dying wife. He felt helpless, there was nothing he could do to save her, and he felt the life slipping from her with every moment that passed.

His heart was breaking – he was losing her _again_.

"Shh," he whispered.

"Leave me, they will kill you…" Melena looked up at Ronon.

"I made a promise." Ronon held onto her and prepared himself for what would be walking through that door at any moment. He made a promise to her that he'd never leave her again and he refused to break that, even now.

**Outer Complex Ruins**

"Teyla!" John shouted as he compromised his position. It took him a second to leap over the concrete barrier, pistol aimed on the Asurans. He wasted no time and fired the first shot on the Asuran closest to her.

The Asuran looked in John's direction, almost startled before he burst into tiny pieces, scattering all around Teyla.

She gasped as she staggered backwards from the sudden release of the Asuran.

Again, no time was wasted as John did the same thing to the other one – not giving him enough time to build immunity to the energy weapon. Once the Asuran shattered to pieces, he made his way over to Teyla. "You okay?"

Teyla nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I am okay."

"You sure?"

"I am sure," she said as she straightened herself, looking at John.

John nodded.

**Complex Ruins**

"Promises can be broken," Melena said softly and closed her eyes.

Ronon knew that she had very little time left – her breath was becoming more labored, her body tensing in his arms."I'm not leaving."

Melena attempted a smile; it came very slowly as her body fought against her. "I love you." Her voice was gravelly and low.

He felt a pang in his chest at her words; it was no longer a question, the woman in his arms was the woman that he loved. He pulled her even closer, wrapping his arms around her as he kissed her forehead.

"Ronon," she managed through her gasps of breath – death was beckoning her. "Even in death, I'll never leave you…"

"Don't," he mumbled as he buried his face in her hair. He inhaled the sweet scent of her, letting it consume him.

"It's time," she murmured.

**Complex Ruins**

"Let's go," Sheppard said as he headed towards the entrance of the complex.

Rodney followed closely behind him. "I need to get as close as possible to her for a least a couple of minutes."

"I got it covered." John kicked the door open, his P-90 pressed against his shoulder and he scanned the entranceway before declaring it all clear. Everyone made their way inside the complex and headed up the stairs.

Teyla maneuvered into position beside John as they reached the second level and headed down the hallway. It took them a few minutes, checking several doors along the way – finally it was down to two.

John positioned himself in front of one of the remaining doors and indicated to Lorne to watch their backs.

Rodney flipped the switch on the transmitter and looked at John. He nodded his head, indicating that he was ready to send out the virus as soon as they were inside.

John inhaled sharply before raising his weapon and forcefully kicking open the door.

The door flew open and Ronon's head whipped around. He was sitting on the ground, in the middle of the room with Melena lying in his arms. His body was trembling - his hands shaking. John entered slowly, looking at Ronon – that's when he noticed his face had been dampened with tears and his eyes still burning with unshed tears.

John lowered his weapon slowly and gestured for the others to do the same. "Turn it off, Rodney," he told him quietly.

"What?" he questioned, looking at Sheppard.

"Turn it _off_."

"I still need-"

"It's over."


	10. Chapter 10

**Deus Ex Machina**

**Chapter 10 – Epilogue**

**Atlantis – Pegasus Galaxy**

The amber glow of the sun rising over the city illuminated the skyline and made the ocean glisten beneath. The storms that had loomed over Atlantis for the last couple of days had cleared out. A light breeze swept up from the water, brushing against Ronon's skin. He leaned against the railing on the balcony and gazed out into the distance.

Ronon shut his eyes slowly, envisioning the woman he had loved not so long ago, the only woman he would ever truly love. No smile attempted to surface, only stray tears found their way down the warrior's face. He didn't fight it, instead letting it come out.

The sweet smell of her, the taste of honey on her lips was fresh in his mind. It was almost as if she were still there, and perhaps she was – standing beside him, watching over him… even in death as she had promised.

"_Ronon," she managed through her gasps of breath – death was beckoning her. "Even in death, I'll never leave you…"_

"_Don't," he mumbled as he buried his face in her hair. He inhaled the sweet scent of her, letting it consume him._

"_It's time," she murmured._

"_Don't say that." Ronon looked down at her, tilting his head to the side as he stared into her brown eyes. He didn't fight the threatening tears as they rolled down his cheeks. This wasn't supposed to be happening, he wasn't supposed to get her back only to lose her again. He felt chest tighten, finding it hard to breathe – disbelief and fear washed over him._

"_Ronon, there's no… saving… me." She was becoming weaker as each moment passed them by._

"_Melena… if we get back to Atlantis… Doctor Beckett… McKay-" he tried to reason, as much for his own peace of mind as hers._

"_I'd never make it… back to… Atlantis… if I didn't… die before… they wouldn't allow… it."_

_She was right. He couldn't deny that there was no way they'd allow her to return but what else was he to do? Helplessness gripped around his heart like a vice, threatening to shatter it into pieces as he watched his wife die… again._

"_Ronon… I love you… and I'm so sorry," she gasped through tears and lack of breath._

_He pulled her against his chest tightly, kissing her head softly. "Melena, don't leave me…" He pleaded with her as the last moments of her life slipped away. The last words hung from her lips… "_I'll always be with you"

_She was gone._

_---_

_As the woman in the infirmary bed came into view, Ronon couldn't believe his eyes. His heart started pounding against his ribcage, seemingly fighting to escape. He stood there, paralyzed by the sight of … "Melena." _

_---_

"_Ronon," John said carefully as he stepped towards the other man. Ronon cradled the dead body of his wife, unable to release her. _

_The others remained at a distance; Teyla watched on – her own eyes misting as her gaze fell upon Ronon. Rodney remained silent, standing behind Lorne who was unable to look in their direction – whether it was out of respect or the emotional situation, John didn't know._

_John stopped a few inches away from Ronon, crouching down behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ronon…"_

"_I'm not leaving," he said, his voice gruff and deep._

"_There's nothing more for you to do." John looked at the other man. Concern was etched into his face, he had never witnessed the strongest man he knew so broken before._

"_I made a promise."_

_A troubled sigh escaped John. "We will take her back to Atlantis."_

_---_

"_You have a visitor," Doctor Beckett said as he looked down at Melena who was sitting in a wheelchair in front of him. "She's very persistent," he commented._

_Ronon knelt down in front of Melena, grinning knowingly as he looked up at Beckett._

_---_

_Rodney concluded there was no threat in returning to Atlantis with Melena. He used the EMP gun to rid her body of the nanites. After assuring Doctor Weir over radio transmission that it was safe – she allowed them to proceed home._

_Ronon stepped through the other side of the Stargate to Atlantis with Melena cradled in his arms. He ignored the onlookers. Elizabeth met them at the Gate and offered words of condolences - he just walked past her. John and Teyla followed. _

Elizabeth walked out onto the balcony, moving to stand beside the taller man. She leaned on the railing, looking out over the city. "The city always seems different after a storm," she commented solemnly.

Ronon didn't look in her direction and continued to stare out into the distance – over the never-ending span of the ocean.

"I know there are no words that I can say that will offer you any comfort, Ronon." Elizabeth looked at him, regretfully.

Ronon nodded his head slowly.

"But I want you to know if there's anything I can do… I will."

He said nothing.

Elizabeth placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly before turning and heading towards the entranceway.

"Thank you," he said quietly, still looking out over the city.

Elizabeth looked over her shoulder and smiled a little. "You're welcome," she replied before leaving him alone.

_Hours after returning to Atlantis, the discussions had commenced. Ronon remained silent in the doorway of Doctor Weir's office as everyone gathered. They were all aware that the Asurans' plan to infiltrate Atlantis had failed, but it wouldn't be the last they heard of them._

_If this had been their first strike… it'd be only a matter of time before the second, third… and forth were to occur._

_Ronon stayed, even though he wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else. Not only did he have a war against the Wraith… he now had one against the Asurans too. Rage crept into his bones and muscles, not intending to let up any time soon._

_---_

"_It's not a dream, Melena," he assured her. "I'm here." Ronon kissed her shoulder softly._

"_Ronon…" she murmured._

_Ronon carefully guided Melena so that she faced him once again. "I love you, Melena and that hasn't changed."_

"_But how Ronon? So much time has gone by. You're different… I'm different."_

"_I never stopped," he told her, cupping her face in his hands. "You're the reason I'm still alive, even now. I kept going because of you." He pulled her closer, pressing his lips against hers gently._

_She had returned to him after seven long years… and he wasn't about to let her go. The love they shared with each other was renewed in the moments as their hands explored. He was remembering every curve of her body and inhaling the sweet scent of honey suckles as they were wrapped up in each other's love. _

_---_

_The sound of the Athosian's voice traveled through the forests of the mainland. Teyla let her singing voice carry – a song for the deceased as a small group gathered for the funeral of Melena Dex._

_Ronon remained in the background, leaning against a tree as he looked on. In spite of his grief, he appreciated the gesture of the Atlantians', but he could offer no words of gratitude, afraid that he'd be unable to hold himself together – the heartbreak was unbearable and he did everything in his power to stop it from surfacing._

_Once Teyla was finished, her eyes meet Ronon's and she gestured for him to come forward._

_He hesitated before taking that first step._

_He reached the burial mound and knelt down in the dirt. He pressed his palm against the cold damp earth. Droplets of rain fell from above and Ronon scooped up a handful of the soil. "Always," he murmured softly before distributing the dirt of the grave of his wife. Suddenly the pain could no longer be contained, and the tears flowed, rattling Ronon to the core of his deserted soul._

_---_

_She smiled as she leaned forward, placing a soft kiss against his cheek. "I love you, Ronon."_

_He offered her a small smile. "I love you too."_

"Hello," Teyla said softly as she stepped out onto the balcony. "It appears as if the rain has finally left us."

Ronon nodded before turning to look at her.

"We were going to go get something to eat – John and I, we thought that perhaps you might like to join us?" It wasn't uncommon for Teyla to try and coax Ronon into every day activities; she had been doing it quite often these past few days. She had become quite proficient in convincing him to join them – that or he just didn't bother arguing with her.

Ronon shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"Come on, you need to eat." Teyla could be quite motherly.

"Yeah," he said impassively.

"Good," she said with a slight smile as she slipped her hand into his. "Come."

Amidst all of the pain, he knew he'd be okay – he had friends to help him through.


End file.
